Excitement is high in the city of Estevan as the 37th annual Estevan Strippers Tournament hits the ice at Affinity Place, the Power Dodge Ice Centre, and the Bienfait Memorial Arena. According to lead organizer Steve Godfrey, the tournament wouldn't be what it is today without the lead organizer before him Rick Rohatyn.

"It is a great feeling, it's a lot of work and a lot of people put a lot of work into it. Rick has built this tournament to be a great tournament and we always have a waiting list, there's so many people that want to get into this tournament, we put on a good show and we couldn't do it without the businesses and the support of the people of Estevan."

Over 40 teams are coming to Estevan to take part in the near week long tournament, the furthest being a women's team from Swan River, Manitoba. This year's tournament has been in the planning phase since the end of last year's, especially with the size of it and needing a new third rink in place of the old civic centre.

"We've got a DJ for Friday, Dave Elliot's coming in and Saturday we've got Third Degree Burns for a band coming in, we've been organizing that stuff, and then organizing referees which is one of the toughest things, security, there's a whole gambit of things that goes through it and until you're deep in the process which the young guys are learning, you don't realize how much stuff there is to do."

The tournament raises funds for charities and events around the community year round, and the people involved are some of the biggest supporters of the community. Since it's beginning, the tournament has went from a small scale event to one that's been a staple of the community ever since.

"Everybody is excited for this thing to kick off, we look forward to it every year. We plan our whole hockey season around it, and everybody that I know plans their whole hockey season around it and the community I talked to, they planned year around it and they know that spring has arrived when the Strippers tournament gets here and the Master's Tournament is on TV."