Ladies from around Alaska skate in C-Cup classic

MAT-SU — This weekend promises much for Valley hockey fans.

Action began Thursday and continues through Sunday at the Palmer Ice Arena, which is hosting the 2009 Ladies C-Cup Ice Hockey Classic. The event is a round-robin tournament featuring 10 teams from all over Alaska.

For the ladies playing in the tournament, they cannot wait for the action to begin.

“I am so excited, it is the highlighted of my year. This is my weekend. We just have so much fun we laugh until it hurts,” said Diane Firmani, a 20-year veteran of ladies hockey.

“For a lot of ladies from outside Palmer, they come here get a hotel room, do some shopping and play a lot of hockey. I mean no husband, no kids, it is a dream weekend,” she said.

But once the puck drops, it is all hockey.

“We have some girls that are really good out there playing. And the competition around Alaska is really good,” said Firmani.

Another teammate agreed with Firmani.

“This year the competition is really good, but the main thing is host the tournament and have a good time,” said Shelly Eller.

Like Firmani, Eller has been playing hockey for a large part of her life.

“I started playing hockey in my earlier 20s and joined the ladies league when the Palmer Ice Arena first opened,” she said.

Such is the case with many of the league’s members.

“There has been a nucleus of four or five of us who have been playing hockey together for 20 years,” said Firmani.

“I just it love because of the sisterhood, camaraderie and exercise. And we just have such a variety of women on the team. This year we have a schoolteacher, a school nurse, a vet, a woman who works for a non-profit organization, a prison guard and some stay at home moms. It is a nice mix,” she said.

The admission is free for all fans. In fact, “We would pay them to show up and watch us play,” said Eller.