Hockey for HopeBedford, Nova Scotia

4th Annual · September 11–13, 2026

Hockey for
Hope

A co-ed charity hockey tournament in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Every dollar raised pays for mental health care that cancer patients at the QEII would otherwise cover on their own.

Register your team Donate to the fund
Where
Greenfoot Energy Centre
Format
24 teams, 3 divisions
Entry
$1,100 per team

Registration open

Three Hockey for Hope players in black and purple jerseys standing arm in arm on the ice, smiling
Two players in the dressing room smiling before a game
Tournament weekend
Sept 11–13, 2026Friday evening through Sunday
Rink
Greenfoot Energy CentreThe HRM 4-Pad, Bedford NS
Guaranteed games
3 per teamPlus division finals for the top eight
Puck drops in
Organizers presenting a cheque for thirty-nine thousand dollars to the QEII Foundation for mental health support for cancer patients

Where the money goes

A grant, a care team, and a patient who can finally afford help

A care provider at the QEII Health Sciences Centre applies on a patient's behalf. The grant covers up to $1,000 toward private counselling, massage therapy, acupuncture, or whatever else that patient's team believes will help them cope with what treatment left behind.

Seventy-six patients were funded this way through spring 2025. The fund ran dry that April, which is the plainest argument we have for filling it again.

Read how the fund works

Since 2023

What the weekend has paid for so far

$108,000+

Raised since 2023

$33,000 in the first year, $39,000 in 2024, and more than $36,000 in 2025.

Every dollar goes to the fund

A large team in teal jerseys and toques celebrating together in the dressing room

76

Grants paid to patients

Counted through spring 2025, when the fund was fully spent.

$1,000

Maximum single grant

Applied for by a QEII care provider, on the patient's behalf.

24

Teams in 2025

Up from ten at the first tournament. The 2026 field is the same size.

“Hockey is the avenue to make a difference. It's really about helping cancer patients.”
Shay NeedhamFounder, and a cancer survivor since 2015

How the weekend runs

Three divisions, so the games stay fun

Organizers place every team by looking at the roster it submits, weighing age and playing history. Teams are guaranteed three round-robin games, and the top eight move on to four division finals.

01

Competitive / Intermediate

Skaters and goalies with a real hockey background: high school, university, or junior A, B, C and AA or AAA. Expect younger legs and a quick pace. Newer players belong in Recreation, where it is safer for them.

Fast pace Coached backgrounds No slap shots, no contact

02

Recreation Upper

Adult rec-league regulars who are athletic, read the game well, and skate and handle the puck comfortably. Roughly the stronger end of Bluenose Coed. Some skaters here have moved down from higher ranks as the years added up.

Bluenose Coed comparable Mixed experience

03

Recreation Lower

Average in most areas of the game and here mainly for the weekend itself. This is where newer skaters land. Anyone with more skill in this division is expected to pass to them, give them shifts, and leave them room with the puck.

Welcoming to newer players Equal ice time
One request from the organizers

Please build a balanced roster. Stacking a team takes the weekend away from everyone else in the division, and the organizers can move or remove a player whose skill level is out of place.

Who plays

Everyone is welcome on this ice

Players are 21 and older, and every team dresses at least two female or non-binary skaters in each game. The 2SLGBTQ+ community and their allies have a place here, and organizers hold a firm line on disrespectful or intimidating behaviour.

Players with more skill are asked to make room: pass to the newer skaters on your bench, give equal shifts, and if you knock someone over, help them up.

Read the full rules
A co-ed team in purple Hockey for Hope jerseys posing together on the ice after a game

From the weekend

Four years of this rink

See the full gallery
A referee dropping the puck between two players at centre ice
Opening faceoff
A full team in Hockey for Hope jerseys posing on the ice
The house team
Players skating during a game at the Bedford four-pad arena
Saturday afternoon
A large co-ed team in navy jerseys gathered for a group photo
Team photo, off the ice
A ceremonial puck drop before the first game of the tournament
Ceremonial puck drop

Past supporters

Interested in sponsoring the 2026 tournament? Email the organizers.

Two ways in

Bring a team, or back the fund

Twenty-four spots open for 2026. A $300 deposit holds yours, with the balance due July 31. If skating is behind you, the QEII Foundation page takes donations of any size and issues the tax receipt.

Register a team Donate