The Tim Hortons Backyard Classic has been postponed until further notice due to the impending warm weather this weekend. A make-up date will be announced by next Wednesday January 16, 2013 through a press release, on our website (www.timhortonsbackyardclassic.com), and through our social media outlets. In regards to the postponement, Penberthy said, “While this change in weather is unfortunate, this allows more teams to register and make the Tim Hortons Backyard Classic bigger and better for our participants.”
For the last four years, the tournament was played on Penberthy’s East Amherst, NY backyard ice rink, which his family sets up each winter at their home. In 2011, it was expanded to a second Williamsville, New York location hosted by Chris Taggart, who serves as Co-Chair of the event. In 2012, the event was renamed the Tim Horton’s Backyard Classic thanks to the generous support of Tim Horton’s Café & Bake Shop, who continues to be the Platinum Sponsor of the 2013 event.
This year with the relocation to the Rose Garden (2753 Wehrle Drive Williamsville, NY) the tournament has a capacity of 96 teams equaling 368 players playing across four outdoor ice rinks as opposed to previous year’s 24 team tournament. Registration for the 2013 Tim Hortons Backyard Classic is still available online as limited spots remain at www.timhortonsbackyardclassic.com.
The hockey tournament was founded in 2008 by East Amherst, New York resident Nicholas Penberthy, currently a sophomore at SUNY Cortland (www.cortland.edu) studying childhood education. The Tim Hortons Backyard Classic has raised over $20,000 for Hasek’s Heroes, an organization founded by NHL great and former Buffalo Sabre Dominik Hasek, which introduces city youth to ice hockey and life skills. The proceeds from this event will be used to build an educational resource center.
