Ken Gill and Forrest Owens will always be at the heart of a growing hockey tournament in Esquimalt.
But in a way the late firefighters would appreciate and likely admire, the annual hockey game – turned one-day tournament for 2024 – is building bonds and highlighting valuable causes as it expands.
The Ken Gill and Forrest Owens Memorial Hockey Tournament is named for firefighters who died from key work-related health issues – cancer and mental health – it started as a one-off.
The game memorialized Gill, whose firefighting career spanned the region, from Langford to Esquimalt, Sidney where he was born and eventually Oak Bay for the last 17 years of his 32-year career, before official retirement in 2014. After a year off he returned as chaplain to Oak Bay and Esquimalt fire departments. By all accounts he was always willing to lend an ear or grab a coffee to help support those he worked with.
Gill was 58 when he died by suicide in 2018.
“That was a direct result of all the burdens he saw during his career,” said tournament organizer and Esquimalt firefighter Scott McMillan.
The original one-off game was struck to bring people together, remember Gill and serve as a reminder “even the people checking in on people need someone checking in on them.”
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Owens, who played in those early games, was 64 when he died from complications of work-related cancer in 2022.
He’d served as assistant fire chief in Central Saanich during a career that spanned 35 years and was known as a pillar of the Saanich Peninsula.
“The two of them are the faces we had when we started this idea,” McMillan said. “I think we’ll always try and keep their names in mind but it’s going to become more of a memorial hockey tournament and people will be able to remember people they’ve lost in their own departments.”
Langford recently marked the first anniversary of the death of longtime firefighter Lance Caven.
Caven spent 30 years with Langford Fire Rescue, first as a volunteer when he joined in 1991, and then moving into a career position in 2002, and finally working as assistant chief since 2017.
Caven died at the age of 50 after a battle with cancer.
The two health concerns remain the focus of the event, as occupational cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths in the fire service and first responders are at high risk of developing post-traumatic stress.
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“It’s a different world now. The men and women who used to be in the fire service used to bottle it up. It’s the same as army, the same as military, put one foot in front of the other and go until you can’t. We’ve learned that’s not the way … you want people to retire and have a great life post career,” McMillan said.
“This tournament brings that to light.”
This year, it grows to a one-day, eight-department, four-on-four tournament with each team playing for a charity. Teams from Victoria (Courtnall Society), Esquimalt (Neighbourhood House), Department of National Defence (Wounded Warriors Canada), Oak Bay (Courtnall Society), Saanich (Wounded Warriors Canada), Central Saanich, Langford (Goldstream Food Bank) and a combined View Royal/Colwood team (Victoria Hospitals Foundation).
“They’re representing something that’s near and dear to them,” McMillan said. The top two winning teams earn cash for their cause.
The event runs April 5 from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Archie Browning Arena.
From 1 to 3 p.m. mental health and wellness practitioners will be on hand.
With games rolling all day, the final puck drops at 5:20 p.m.
“There will be a little area of remembrance for people to come and pay their respects,” McMillan said.
It brings Greater Victoria fire departments together in a way they haven’t before. It reflects a shift in the region, the last two to three years the majority of the south Island departments have become IAFF locals, joining the ranks of the Professional Firefighters of Greater Victoria, McMillan said.
“It’s one of the first times we’re all together, playing in the same sandbox so to speak.”
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