Ice hockey got its start in New Zealand in the South Island's back blocks on frozen lakes and ponds during the 1930s.
The first organised tournament was the inaugural Erewhon Cup in 1937. It was held on the farm Opawa, near Albury, in South Canterbury, with the Mt Harper team prevailing.
The cup had been donated by Wyndham Barker and afterwards a meeting was held in a caravan near the farm's homestead and the New Zealand Ice Skating Association was formed.
"It was basically the birth of ice hockey in New Zealand," former New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation president Graeme Glass said.
Opawa was owned by Graeme's father, Ben, and the Glass family has played a significant part in the sport's development.
"I valued the tradition of it and made sure it continued on and others have done the same.
My son [Ice Black Simon Glass] has been involved, so three generations of our family have all captained Erewhon Cup-winning teams and kept the tradition going."
The New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation was formed in the mid 1980s to give the sport a sharper focus, and the Erewhon Cup was given to the Southern League in 1992 to reflect the tournament's roots.
The sport has taken off in recent years with the establishment of a semi-professional league in 2005.
But the Erewhon Cup remains an important event on the calendar, and the Southern Stampede and Dunedin Thunder have been given a bye this week so their players can compete in the tournament.
This year's event will be contested by 10 teams and will be staged in Tekapo from tomorrow until Sunday.
Dunedin and Queenstown will field three teams each. There will also be teams from Tekapo, Alexandra, Maniototo and Gore.
