Flames versus Flames at first ever esports tournament in Calgary

Flames host esports tournament The Calgary Flames held a competitive video game event at the Saddledome on Saturday. Brenna Rose reports.

Dozens of hockey players of a different sort got together at the Saddledome on Saturday for the first ever esports event, hosted by the Calgary Flames.

About $5,000 in prizes was up for grabs for the 64 players registered in the first annual Calgary Flames Chel Showdown. Organizers say there were about 450 people interested in participating but they had to turn the bulk of them away.

One of the players, Taylor Eichel, was told about the tournament by some of his friends who thought his expertise in playing hockey on Xbox might win him some cash.

“I love hockey. My brother is very much into hockey so I always went to his games growing up.”

He says esports have become a lot more popular because of online platforms like Twitch.

“Everyone’s on streaming video games and it’s all getting popular. It’s just getting bigger and bigger. I’m glad they did it here.”

Eichel adds that playing hockey as a video game is a great way to engage people who don’t or can’t get out to play the sport themselves.

“Hockey can be expensive and this is fun. It’s good for the whole family and fun playing with people around here.”

Andrew Swan, Calgary Sports and Entertainment’s esports commissioner, says the event was an opportunity to break into the growing popularity of competitive video gaming.

“It’s new to us. It’s fresh and exciting and we just wanted to give it a chance to figure out what it’s all about.”

He says there was a lot of interest for the event and it’s been successful right from the start. Because of that, Swan says there is the potential of another one down the line.

“I think, for us, it was a way to connect people to game of hockey, especially the Calgary Flames, in a very meaningful way. Playing NHL ’19 and having Flames versus Flames was a pretty fun way to do that.”

Swan says that tournaments like this also show how much esports have grown over the past few years.

“It’s just a massive business and a massive form of entertainment and in the last few years, it’s gotten even bigger. I think that now that it’s hit that real mainstream appeal, people are paying more attention and taking it seriously.”

For more information about the tournament, you can go to the Flames website.

(With files from Brenna Rose)