What to do at a hockey tournament

Updated October 17, 2026

A tournament weekend is a few games, a hotel and a lot of time in between. The games are the reason you're there, so the rest of the weekend should get you ready for them, and still be fun. Here's how to spend the time between games, team bonding ideas, hotel games that work in a room or the lobby, the rules for mini sticks and the pool, a packing list and tips for parents.

Between games: rest first

Between games, your job is getting ready for the next one. That means rest, food and water.

1. Refuel right after the game. Drink water and have a snack soon after you come off the ice: chocolate milk, yogurt, fruit or a sandwich.
2. Get off your feet. Go back to the hotel or sit in the car, put your feet up, read or watch something. Hours of walking around a mall or standing in an arcade use up the legs you need for the next game.
3. Time your food. If the next game is a few hours away, eat a real meal about 1.5 to 3 hours before it, like a turkey sandwich, pasta, or rice and chicken. If it's closer than that, keep it to a light snack 15 to 60 minutes before, such as fruit, pretzels or a granola bar. More in what to eat before a hockey game.
4. Drink water all day. Carry your own bottle with your name on it. The American Academy of Pediatrics says water should be the main drink for young athletes, and that energy drinks aren't appropriate for kids or teens at all.
5. Air out your gear. Open the bag and hang everything up between games. Gear left zipped in a bag stays wet. See getting rid of gear smell.
6. Sleep. A late night in the lobby shows up in the morning game. The CDC, following the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, says kids 6 to 12 need 9 to 12 hours of sleep and teens need 8 to 10.
7. Speak up if something hurts. Tell your coach and a parent. A sore shoulder, a twisted ankle or any hit to the head should be checked by a doctor or athletic trainer before you play again. Don't hide it to stay in the lineup.

Team bonding ideas

• A team meal. Book it ahead, because a group that big needs a reservation. Sit players together and parents at their own table.
• Watch a game together. Scout the team you might play next, or cheer for another team from your club.
• Secret teammates. Everyone draws a name. Before each game, leave your secret teammate a note or a small treat. Reveal who you had on the last day.
• Player of the game. Pass a team prize, like a hard hat or a stuffed animal, to the player who did the little things. That player picks who gets it next.
• Two truths and a lie. Everyone says three things about themselves, one of them false, and the team guesses. Good for new teammates.
• Sit with someone new. Mix up the tables at breakfast.
• Make up a team celly. Plan it quietly in the lobby and save it for a big goal. Here are some goal celebration ideas.
• Name the team. A 3-on-3 or tournament-only team needs a name. Try these team name ideas.

Hotel games for a room or the lobby

The best hotel games need a deck of cards or nothing at all, and none of them breaks anything. Pick a spot where you're not in anyone's way, and keep the noise down.

Card games

• Spoons. Best with a big group. Put spoons in the middle, one fewer than the number of players (pack plastic ones). Everyone gets four cards. The dealer takes a card from the deck and passes one to the left, and so on around the circle, everyone trying to collect four of a kind. Whoever gets four of a kind quietly takes a spoon, and then everyone grabs one. The player left without a spoon gets a letter. Spell S-P-O-O-N and you're out.
• Kemps. Teams of two. Each pair agrees on a secret signal, like a wink or a tap on the nose. Everyone gets four cards, four more go face up in the middle, and players swap cards with the middle to collect four of a kind. When you have it, signal your partner without getting caught, and your partner calls "Kemps!" House rules vary, so agree on them first. It's a good test of how well linemates read each other.
• Crazy Eights. Match the top card by suit or by number. Eights are wild. Easy for younger players.
• Speed. A fast game for two, played at the same time with no turns.
• Hearts or euchre for older players and parents.

Hockey trivia

Make teams of three or four, let a parent read the questions, and write answers on the hotel notepad. Here are eight to start:

Then write your own about your team's season: who scored the first goal, who has the loudest skates, who's always last off the ice.

Other easy games

• Hockey charades. Act out a slap shot, a glove save, the ice resurfacer or a coach drawing up a play.
• Would you rather. The hockey edition: score the overtime winner or get a shutout?
• Draw the play. One player draws a hockey word on the notepad, the rest guess.
• Werewolf for older kids: one big group, one person running it, and plenty of accusations.

Mini sticks: only where the hotel allows

Mini sticks are the classic tournament hotel game, but plenty of tournament hotel policies ban sticks of any kind inside, mini sticks included. Some events can remove a team from the hotel and the tournament for damage or for disturbing other guests. So:

1. Ask first. Check with the front desk, and read your tournament's hotel rules.
2. If it's yes, ask where. Never the hallways. Other guests are sleeping, and walls and doors dent.
3. Use a soft foam ball, not a puck.
4. Respect quiet hours and the other guests: families, people traveling for work, other teams with early games. Some tournaments also set curfews, like 10 p.m. for players under 15.
5. An adult in the room. No grown-up, no game.
6. If it's no, it's no. Get the cards out.

Outside can work too, on a patch of grass well away from cars. Never in the parking lot.

The pool

• An adult watches the whole time, even for good swimmers. The CDC recommends one responsible adult who watches closely and constantly, without a phone. Some tournament hotel policies require kids to be supervised everywhere in the hotel, pool included.
• Keep it short on game days. Swimming and splashing are exercise too, and tired legs don't skate fast. Follow your coach's pool rules.
• Walk, don't run, and only dive where it's allowed.
• Check the pool hours and share the space with other guests.
• Bring flip-flops, a towel and something dry to change into.

Packing list for a tournament weekend

Start with the full hockey equipment list, then add the tournament extras:

• Hockey: both jerseys (light and dark) and both sets of socks, an extra base layer and a fresh pair of socks for each game, skate guards and a towel for your blades, spare laces, a backup stick if you have one, a mouthguard and a water bottle. Pack stick tape for a quick re-tape between games, and get your skates sharpened before the weekend, with time to skate on the new edges first (see skate sharpening and lacing).
• Gear care: a laundry bag for base layers and a way to hang wet gear in the room.
• Clothes: warm layers and a hat for cold rinks, comfortable clothes for between games, team clothes if you have them, pajamas, a swimsuit and flip-flops.
• Food: a cooler with water, fruit, sandwiches, yogurt, cheese and crackers, plus snacks for the drive.
• Fun: a deck of cards, plastic spoons, a book, phone chargers and an HDMI cable if you're bringing a laptop.
• For parents: the schedule, rink addresses, health or insurance cards, any medicine your player takes, a small first aid kit and ice packs.
• School: homework, if it's that kind of weekend.

Tips for parents

• One group chat for logistics. The team manager posts the schedule, arrival times and rink addresses, so nobody has to scroll past a hundred messages to find them. Keep game talk and complaints out of it.
• One shared schedule. Game times, arrival times, rinks, team meals and hotel checkout, all in one place. Find out when the playoff round is, so you know whether a Sunday afternoon game could change your drive home.
• A cooler. It means real food between games instead of whatever the snack bar has left.
• Book the hotel the way the tournament says. Many tournaments are stay-to-play: teams have to book through the official hotel block, and a team that doesn't can be kept out of the tournament. Read the rules before you book.
• Know the hotel rules. Some tournaments set curfews, ban hockey sticks inside the hotel and hold families responsible for any damage.
• Plan the downtime. Put one adult in charge of each block of free time: the pool, the lobby, the rest hour.
• Keep the rink calm. Cheer for every kid on the team, let the coach coach, and save the game review for the car ride home, or skip it.
• Agree on lights out. Settle on a time with the other parents, so no kid is the only one sent to bed.

A TV game night to finish

Saturday night is made for a TV game night. Put a hockey game on and watch it as a team, or play one together. Brudvig Hockey 2027 is a free 3-on-3 arcade hockey game that runs in a web browser, so it works on a hotel TV that has a browser, or on a laptop plugged into the TV, with everyone's phones as the controllers. There's nothing to download and no account. The play on TV guide shows how to set it up, and the printable bracket turns it into a hotel-room tournament. Print it before you leave, and keep the volume down once quiet hours start.