March 16, 2026 by Ryan Lotsberg

Another Heavy Hockey Showdown is in the books. We had an epic Pre-Party and silent auction at the Ice House on Friday night, and the game on Saturday at the Downtown Community Arena was an instant classic. It was an incredible weekend spent with an incredible group of people.

It’s a fun event, but that’s not why we do it. The months of planning, the several hundred group chat messages, the dozens of emails, and all the hours of work that went into planning the Heavy Hockey Showdown was done for one reason: to support the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (SACE).

SACE is a fantastic organization that does important work. They offer survivors of sexual violence assistance with police and court services if they choose to pursue justice. Justice is quite rarely served, but assistance is available.

SACE does a lot of public education and outreach work. The WiseGuyz program educates teenage boys about sexual violence and the impact it can have on victims. 89% of survivors of sexual violence are women, and 94% of offenders are men. Educating young men about sexual violence helps to decrease future instances of sexual violence.

SACE offers a volunteer-run emergency support line and free counselling for survivors of sexual violence. 71% of children and 82% of adults that received counselling through SACE last year reported improved trauma symptoms. The scars of sexual violence last forever, but counselling is a vital part of the recovery process that helps survivors to live normal lives. It can literally save lives.

The startling reality is that 45% of Albertan adults have experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives. The odds are that you know a lot of people that have been impacted. I certainly do. In the four years that I’ve been raising funds for SACE as part of the Heavy Hockey Showdown, I’ve had more and more people share their stories with me. I’ve had perfect strangers reach out to me on social media, and I’ve had friends that I care about deeply share sickening things with me.

We’ve seen some horrible stories emerge from the hockey world in recent years. The darkness of hockey culture has come to light because of many of these stories. The trial involving players from the 2018 Canadian World Junior team really brought the issue into the spotlight. The trial went according to the usual script. The victim had to relive the event via intense questioning, the proof provided was insufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and the defendants walked away with no consequence more than a slap on the wrist from the NHL.

Related: The verdict isn’t the end

The silver lining that came from that trial was that the issue for survivors seeking justice was revealed. It resulted in a lot of social discourse about the issue. I don’t think anything will change in the legal system to make it favour survivors in any way, but the issue got some exposure.

Ugly stories continue to emerge. The outcomes seem to be the same. Stories come out, involved players get minimal punishments from their leagues, and life goes on.

The problem the legal system and the governing bodies responsible for holding players accountable have is that the defendants have right to a fair trial and guilt needs to be proven without reasonable doubt. Sexual assault is an incredibly difficult crime to prove.

Related: Issues that should be at the forefront after the 2018 World Junior sexual assault trial

Survivors want to be believed. The legal system and the governing bodies in hockey responsible for punishing their players aren’t designed to simply believe survivors. I don’t have the solution, and I wish I did. Those are the realities that survivors face though. Thankfully, organizations like SACE exist to make vital counselling services available to survivors for free.

The instances of sexual assault that come from the hockey world predominantly occur in minor hockey. The people involved are often teenagers. The WiseGuyz program is integral to the prevention of incidents of sexual violence involving young people. SACE has worked with Hockey Edmonton to provide education to coaches and volunteers recently as well.

The Heavy Hockey Showdown not only supports SACE, but it shows that there’s some good in the hockey world.

All of that is why I’m proud to be involved in the Heavy Hockey Showdown and to be a part of the Heavy Hockey Network.

This year’s Heavy Hockey Showdown has raised close to $50,000 for SACE. Our silent auction raised almost $9,000, which CRUSHED our previous record.

Thank you to all of the people and companies that donated to the silent auction this year:

As well as to the following event partners that made significant contributions to the event:

A major thank you goes out to our 2026 Heavy Hockey Showdown sponsors:

Without them, the event wouldn’t be possible.

And a huge thank you goes out to the 2026 Heavy Hockey Showdown planning committee: Jacquelyn Reynolds, Laurie Dashney, Peter & Willy Skinner, Dash in the Park, Ryan Lotsberg, Patrick Phillips, Andy Hatch, and Lauren. Their passion is what drives the success of the event every year.

Of course, none of this would happen without our fearless leader, Michael Hebert. His vision is why the Heavy Hockey Showdown happens every year, and his drive to make this event as impactful as possible is what motivates us to work as hard as we do to make this event happen.

Finally, thank you to everyone that played in the game, came to the Pre-Party, participated in the silent auction, and donated to SACE. Your support means everything to us!

It’s not too late to donate to SACE to support the Heavy Hockey Showdown! Every dollar we get makes a difference for SACE and a survivor of sexual violence. Your donations help survivors get access to free counselling faster, help survivors pursue justice, and help prevent future instances of sexual violence.