DURHAM — Todd Heuchling and Brian Swift both played hockey for Oyster River High School, and both had their lives tragically cut short.
Swift fought bone cancer and died at the age of 15.
Heuchling, who helped Oyster River to two soccer state championships and played hockey for the Bobcats, died in 2003 at the age of 19 while he was training for the marathon team at West Point Military Academy.
Since 2012, the Oyster River hockey community has honored the two and established the Heuchling & Swift Memorial Classic. Now, the tournament is in its 13th year.
“Every year, we look forward to honoring the Heuchling and Swift families by hosting a high school hockey tournament in the name of Todd and Brian,” Oyster River head coach Pete Harwood. “The Heuchling & Swift Memorial Classic gives us an opportunity to invite some out-of-state high school hockey teams to Durham, and to honor Todd Heuchling and Brian Swift.”
This year’s four-day, six-team field includes host Oyster River, Keene, St. Thomas Aquinas, Martha’s Vineyard (Massachusetts), Trumbull (Connecticut) High School and Barrington (Rhode Island) High School.
“This is the strongest field we have had in recent memory,” Harwood said.
All the tournament games will be played at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center, beginning with two games on Thursday. The first game will feature Oyster River vs. Barrington at 4:30 p.m., and St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Keene at 6:30 p.m.
The tournament continues on Friday with Keene vs. Trumbull at 6 p.m., and Marth’s Vineyard vs. Oyster River at 8:30 p.m.
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Saturday’s games features Trumbull vs. St. Thomas Aquinas at 5 p.m., and Barrington vs. Martha’s Vineyard at 7:30 p.m.
There will be three games on Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. with Martha’s Vineyard playing a team based on prior results. There will be another game at 3:30 p.m., and the championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Four teams in this year’s field have won the last five tournaments with Martha’s Vineyard and Trumbull each winning twice. Martha’s Vineyard won in 2019 and 2022, while Trumbull won in 2017 and 2021. Oyster River won in 2018, and Keene beat Martha’s Vineyard in last year’s championship game.
“Our goal is to be in the final and to win the tournament, but we have two very challenging matchups against Barrington and Martha’s Vineyard,” Harwood said. “Martha’s Vineyard is a well-coached team that always plays us tough.”
