NHL trophies take center stage at Asian Hockey Championship

NORTH YORK, Ont. -- Lucas Yu stood mesmerized by the Vezina Trophy on Saturday, dreaming of what could be.

"I've been paying attention to the Vezina Trophy because I'm a goalie and I hope I can eventually get it," said the 11-year-old netminder for the Korean Canadian Athletic Association Tigers.

Lucas got his first glimpse of the award presented annually to the NHL's top goalie and four other iconic trophies that were brought from the Hockey Hall of Fame to the 2026 Asian Hockey Championship on Saturday.

The Vezina made its debut at the 35-year-old tournament along with the Prince of Wales Trophy, Hart Trophy, Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award and Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, all shining in the lobby of the NFP Athletic Centre.

"It's breathtaking," tournament organizer Jeff Chang said. "We all know these trophies. We've seen them presented to countless teams over, I don't know for how many decades. But for the NHL trophies to be here for me, it's amazing, and we're really happy that the NHL is part of our event."

Players and their families stopped, stared and posed for pictures with the awards for the NHL's most valuable player (Hart), top goalie (Vezina), Eastern Conference champions (Wales), Western Conference champions (Campbell)  and community service (O'Ree) as they walked to and from games on Day 2 of the weekend tournament.

"Oh, man, growing up, I've been watching these trophies get given out for my whole life," said Jacob Tran, a forward for the Chicken Chow Men team. "It's surreal. This is the last place I'd thought I'd see this. It's motivational, to be honest. You grow up, you watch these (NHL) hockey guys play. You come out to play for fun, and you see this here. It really gives you some extra motivation."

More than 500 players from across North America are competing on 33 men's, youth and coed teams in the weekend tournament that merges hockey and Asian culture.

The tournament began in 1989 in Toronto when a group of friends got together to play an informal, four-team, round-robin, gathering, Chang said, and has since grown into a sporting and cultural event and family gathering.

"I've been coming since 2012," said Justin Saisho, a 32-year-old forward from Scarborough, Ontario, who plays for Arashi in the tournament. "I get to come here, play with all my cousins, play with my family friends, come out and see the Asian community, it's a good time. And now we see all the major trophies in the NHL."

The action was constant at the NFP Athletic Centre on Saturday with tournament games on four of the facility's six ice sheets. A  spicy ramen eating contest was looking for takers in the lobby near the NHL trophies.

Ricardo Alvarez was teaching young players the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the other end of a hall. Sets of ping pong table were set up near Alvarez's mats for players and families to occupy themselves between games.

"What's beautiful is everybody is here," said Alvarez, who provides martial arts training for four Toronto-area youth hockey teams. "It's called the Asian Hockey Championship but it's just sports, martial arts, food and hockey for everybody."