How Stacy Murtha built the region's top adult hockey tournament in Mitchell

Apr. 12—MITCHELL — One of region's biggest adult hockey tournaments is a place some people wouldn't guess: Mitchell, South Dakota.

Stacy Murtha is one of the major reasons why, helping to build the Lucky Devils Adult Hockey Tournament into a special event on the community's hockey calendar and helping raise funds for the sport's growth in Mitchell, as well.

The 13th edition of the event began Friday and runs through Sunday, and involves 20 teams across four divisions, and 37 games between two ice rinks inside the Mitchell Activities Center.

For Murtha, a Mitchell native who has been involved with hockey for nearly 30 years in the city, the tournament's purpose remains the same as it was when it began: to push the sport forward.

"I basically started adult hockey here when the rink went up in 1996. I've kind of been growing it since," Murtha said. " ... I just give everything I can right back to the sport and the facility."

All the proceeds from the event will go to Mitchell hockey's youth association, the arena and the adult league.

Murtha has always been obsessed with hockey, since he was a seven-year-old skating around Monroe Park during the winter.

He was a youth coach for 20 years, and raised his kids in the sport, joking they "probably didn't have a choice" but to play.

Since the Mitchell Activities Center was built in 1995, Murtha has been part of the efforts and energy to expand youth and adult hockey in Mitchell. He founded the Lucky Devils men's team in 1998, and at first, there were just three players, including him and his brother. They worked hard to keep it growing, and now, he keeps a spreadsheet of 70 to 80 individuals who play.

"We just started putting fliers around grocery stores and the college campuses and it kept growing," he said.

With no local tournaments, the team used to have to travel to Rapid City or Aberdeen to play. But in the early 2010s, Murtha went ahead and started his own event. When the city added a second sheet of ice in 2013, the tournament really began to take off.

"I told them that if they put two sheets, I could fill it," Murtha said. "And I have ever since."

The first couple of years, Murtha ran the whole tournament with limited help, recruiting his wife to run the concessions, and his kids to man the clocks on both rinks for the entire day.

In recent years, he teamed up with Eric Sabers and Eric Lemke to create the Lucky Devil nonprofit organization, which partners with the youth association and puts on the tournament.

"We've been behind it for the last few years," Murtha siad. "I've really loved the help, I used to do it myself."

And along the way, any money the Lucky Devils have made, or received in donations, has gone directly back into hockey.

One of the investments was a $23,000 donation to build a media/film room above the concession stand. Murtha's also had a hand in raising funds to build a crow's nest, shooting cages, sound systems and several other amenities at the arena.

The tournament is divided into four divisions: The A Division is the best competition, and involves several former Division I players, including a handful of University of North Dakota alumni this year.

The second division is called C1, — Murtha opts to not call it the B division because you get some "sandbagging A players in there" — and the strategy has worked quite well to keep the best players out. Then, there's the C2 division, and the 35-and-older division.

An invitation-only event, it costs $1,000 per team to enter, and the tournament has reached the point where it fills itself annually. Teams come from South Dakota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. This year, there are four Mitchell teams in the field. The Lucky Devils have an A and C2 team, and a 35-and-over team named the Mustached Marlins. Another local team, the Dakota Outlaws, will compete in the C1 division.

The event is well established as the largest tournament around, for youth or adults.

"It's the biggest tournament in the region," Murtha said. "Nobody else in South Dakota does tournaments. I'll bring four or five teams from Sioux Falls. And I've asked them, 'Why don't you guys ever do a tournament?' They're like, 'Well, we don't have Stacy Murtha.'"

There is no spectator fee to attend the tournament. Additionally, the Lucky Devils will put on a social serving free pizza and wings to players from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday night at Thirsty's.