The Don Vetter Memorial Tournament was created in the spirit of our house tournament which started in 1998.  The first year (1998) was small with just several Peewee and Squirt teams participating over one weekend. The event has now grown to encompass five weekends with participation at "A" and "B" levels for Mite, Squirt, Peewee, Bantam and Midget House Teams as well as our Travel Division held in the fall.  In 1999 our tournament was dedicated to Don Vetter.  He was often referred to as "Mr. Hockey" in the Canandaigua Area.  The Canandaigua Knights chose to honor Don by naming this Tournament for all years to come. Interestingly, it was Don who had a part in naming our team the "Knights" honoring yet another local hockey enthusiast, Albert Knight, who was the first person from Ontario County killed in action Vietnam.   

 Canandaigua Knights Hockey
Annual Don Vetter Tournaments
at the Greater Canandaigua Civic Center 

For our registration form, go to: Registration Form

For immediate questions, email   or call Kyle Johnson at 585-764-6219. 

 
Skills Competition (Midget Tournament does not have skills competition)

One of the hallmarks for the Don Vetter Tournament is the skills competition where players get to demonstrate their skills of the game for the fans, just like the NHL All-stars.  Each team will be asked to select 4 players per event plus 1 Goalie (additional goalies per team are welcome to participate) for the Saves competition.  A player may not participate in more than 2 events.   An overall team award will be made to the team averaging the highest across all 4 events.  Players must wear at a minimum:  helmets, skates, gloves and jerseys.  Goalies must where full gear.

Events:

1.  Shot Accuracy – 4 players will each have 5 shots at hitting targets.  Points vary based on difficulty of target locations and awarded for targets hit.  The player scoring the most points wins.

2.  Hardest Shot – 4 players will each take 3 shots with a speed gun measuring the speed of the puck. The fastest of their 3 shots will be recorded.  Player with the fastest recorded speed wins.

3 & 4.  Goal Scoring and Goalie Saves  - 4 players from an opposing team will each take 5 shots from approximately 15 feet aware standing still.  Goalie must stay in the crease.  The number of saves will be counted for each goalie.  Wrist shots only.  Goalie with the most saves wins. 

5.  Skating Relay – 4 players will skate in a relay race around the rink.  The first skater will start on the redline and skate 1 lap around the rink carrying a hockey stick (the “baton” for track and field enthusiasts).  After completing 1 lap of the rink, the first player must pass the hockey stick to the next skater anywhere between the blue-lines.  The next player may be in motion as long as the handoff is completed between the blue-lines.  This is to be repeated for the 3rd and 4th skaters as well.  The clock will stop when the 4th skater crosses the center red-line after completing their respective lap.  Team with the fastest time wins.

6. Team Overall – Average scores by team per event are recorded.  Points are awarded and totaled across all events based on 1st=5 points, 2nd=4 points, 3rd=3 points and 4th=2 points.  Team with most points wins.