The Hockey For Humboldt four on four tournament wrapped up on Saturday after two days of raising funds and playing hockey.

The tournament was held at the Innovation Credit Union iPlex and raised funds to support organizations that played a helping role in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash that claimed 16 lives and injured more.

Ryan Gobeil, one of the organizers of the event, was affected by the crash personally as his younger brother Morgan was injured.

He said that the tournament gave him something to do and take his mind off the crash.

"I needed something to do when I came back from the hospital," he said. "It gave me something to do and some purpose. Its been good for me, and it's been great for a lot of the people that have helped organize it. It's also good for the community to come out and support. It brings you a little closer to your heart."

Gobeil said that they raised around $50,000 that will go into the Humboldt Strong community foundation which supports organizations like STARS Air Ambulance, the Ronald McDonald House, and the Royal University Hospital Foundation and many more.

"They use the money to support all those organizations," he said. "The money they take is going to be money that will last a long time. Money that should be substantial over the long term, so that made it a pretty easy decision."

Gobeil, who works for the Swift Current Broncos said it was great to receive all the support from the community.

"Events like this don't happen without the support of a lot of people, and I'm grateful for it," he said. "Without the support of everybody these things don't happen. It's all about having the buy-in from the community, and we had it."

The tournament featured around 100 competitors split into eight teams and featured Maple Creek native and current Ottawa Senators forward Zack Smith, as well as Shaunavon native and Vancouver Canucks prospect Kole Lind.

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(Kole Lind playing in the Hockey for Humboldt Tournament.)

"It's great to see them come out and support it," Gobeil said. "Those guys have all been on buses just like these kids were so they can relate to it."

Lind, who was on a team with his Kelowna Rockets teammates, said he was happy to be able to support his friends and everyone else affected by the crash.

"It's for a great cause," he said. "My friends out there knew lots of those guys, so it was big for all of us. It's something that the hockey world has rallied around for a while, and I'm really proud of what’s been done so far, and what they are going to continue to do."

Lind said that when he heard the news about the crash he was stunned.

"There's not really words to put to what happened," he said. "It could have been any of us, and now we're going to be very grateful for what we have. We want to go out there and play for them every single night from now on."

One of Lind's teammates on the team and on the Kelowna Rockets is Erik Gardiner.

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(Erik Gardnier playing in the Hockey for Humboldt Tournament.)

Gardiner is from Humboldt and said to see all the support from his team, and everybody else was awesome.

"It's good for myself. It's kind of a relief to help out for them (Humboldt Broncos players). It's awesome to be out here and play for the guys. I lost a lot of friends, so it feels good to get back out on the ice and support them."

Gardiner said that this offseason has been tough already.

"It's been a tough offseason for sure, just with everything," he said. "Using it as motivation to play for them. It's good to get Ryan (Gobeil) and peoples minds off of it for even a couple hours. That was kind of the main goal for us as a team, and for myself."

Gardiner said that his team wanted to come participate in the tournament because they were deeply affected by the crash.

"I think they were so deeply affected because we travel on a bus, and we play junior hockey," he said. "It's good to help out. I think anybody wanted to do anything to help out to feel better about themselves and helping the families out that have struggled. Myself and my family have struggled a lot through everything because we knew some of the guys. It's good to have my current teammates out their and support my family and me."

The $50,000 that was raised was through an auction, the 1,500-dollar entry fee that the teams had to raise to enter the tournament, and at Saturday nights Broncos game screening in the curling rink.