The Magurans: Boo in the Soo

Sunday, October 15, 2023

Boo in the Soo

Will and I spent a fun weekend in the U.P. for Boo in the Soo. We drove up on Friday and saw some beautiful colors along the way. Our hotel was in downtown Sault Ste. Marie and right across the street from the Soo Locks Park. Our hotel room wasn't ready when we arrived so we walked over to see the locks. It was great timing - we saw two ships come in from opposite directions. So we saw one go up and one go down.

The boys lost a close game to the Portage Lake Flyers 4-2 (4th goal was an empty net) and then we went back to the hotel for a team dinner. Our second game of the night was at Pullar Stadium which was the original Red Wings training facility before it moved to Traverse City. Wayne Gretsky and Gordie Howe both played there. It was a really neat rink. The boys played the Soo Jr. Greyhounds from Canada. This team beat us pretty badly at this tournament last year. The boys played hard and lost 6-0. The other teams that played them lost 12-1, 8-2, and 10-0 so we were pretty happy with the results. On Saturday morning, Will and I walked around downtown Sault Ste. Marie for a bit. We got breakfast and did a little shopping. The boys tied the Soo Lakers 2-2. We went out to eat with several teammates at the Soo Brewing Company and then walked over to the Tower of History. It was a 25 story tower with a 20 mile view from the top. In the evening, we played Fox Motors Blue in the consolation game and won 5-2. It felt really good to beat them! Will played well this weekend and scored a goal and had several assists.

On Sunday, we got a quick breakfast and made a pit stop at Castle Rock before heading home. It was probably my favorite hockey tournament I've ever been to: great hotel location, local attractions, historic arenas, perfect weather, and great hockey!