Close to 100 hockey players were battling for more than just the puck on Saturday, hitting the ice in Barrie to help erase the stigma that surrounds mental health.
Reuniting old friendships and starting new ones, this tournament called “Mark’s Game” honours Mark Laing, a Barrie teen who took his own life in 2011, just days after graduating high school.
"We want people to get the help that they need and to feel free to go and get the help that is accessible and make more help accessible and not be ashamed about it," says organizer Ryan Stapleton.
Players are using the sport Laing loved to honour their friend, while raising money and awareness for mental health.
"I know it's tough for the mid-20s and stuff like that to talk about things, for us to make awareness and make it available to those people and raise money for it,” says Laing’s friend, Connor Akins. “I think in the future it will really help out with people."
Friends say Laing always put other people first, now this is their turn to help. Money raised will go towards Jack.org and Anxiety Free Community, organizations which help young adults struggling with mental health issues.
"We didn't know about Mark having any kind of mental health issues, he was always so happy and so bubbly,” says Laing’s sister, Katherine Laing. “It's really important for people to talk, because we don't want what happened to us to happen to anyone else."
