The Tournament

The Tournament reunites six friends to play in a hockey tournament that changes their lives forever. Alex Bucco is our 39 year-old protagonist and team captain. He is grieving the loss of his mother and is separated from the love of his life, Diana. Haunted by his past and feeling like he has nothing left to live for, he prepares to take his own life, but draws inspiration from his late mother and keeps going. When Alex was young, his father was murdered by a group of criminals for not paying debts. Alex never truly dealt with the impact of this tragedy. His mother provided a sense of security that was ripped away after she became ill and died. Now Alex wakes up every night at 3:00 a.m., the exact time his father's murderers came into their home, and he struggles with repressed memories and unresolved anger. Alex meets an old classmate named Corey who is organizing a team for a local hockey tournament. Alex reluctantly agrees to play. He convinces his former coach to return and reconnects with old teammates, including his closest friend from childhood - Isaac, an eccentric wannabe rock star. Alex starts to train, is named captain, and continues to deal with the traumatic memories of his past. He also deeply misses Diana. The story primarily follows Alex, but also the lives and conflicts of the other five key players. In the second part of the story, flashbacks reveal more of Alex's past, including the deterioration of his mother's health, his break-up with Diana, and his increased paranoia. In real time the tournament begins and the team, known simply as Toronto, starts off poorly. However, their play steadily improves after a disgraced hockey star joins their bench as an assistant coach. Alex becomes close with Isaac again and helps him throughout the story, paying his rent and bailing him out of jail. The tournament gains popularity with the public and the team goes on an unbeaten streak before the playoffs. As the second part of the story concludes, flashbacks show Alex's mother pass away in hospital with Alex at her bedside. The final part of The Tournament begins with the playoffs. Alex has left game tickets for Diana at the hospital where she works. She starts coming to games, but she stays out of view. During the first playoff game, Alex suffers a scary injury and Diana goes running to the dressing room to help him. Following that encounter, they start picking up the pieces and renew their commitment to each other with more honesty and openness than before. Toronto advances to The Final against New York and everything seems to be going well. Alex's past then catches up with him as he finally meets the men responsible for his father's murder. The criminal syndicate have figured out who Alex is because of the tournament and believe they can squeeze him to repay the money his father owed. Alex is not intimidated, but he realizes that Diana will be harmed if he does not pay. He warns her to stay away. As the team goes back and forth in a wild series against New York, Alex arranges to meet with the criminals in his apartment at 3:00 a.m. prior to the tournament's seventh and deciding game. Unbeknownst to Alex, Diana reached out to Corey for help and he arranged for a trio of bruisers to confront the syndicate. They show up just in time to help Alex and the ghosts from his past are finally put to rest. Alex shows up exhausted to play Game 7. After an intense encounter, he sets up the game winner and Toronto wins it all. Following the post-tournament celebrations and goodbyes, Alex and Diana visit his parents' graves. They commit to healing their wounds and attend counselling together. ... Alex Bucco was a teenager when a criminal syndicate killed his father. Over the years Alex maintained a strong bond with his mother and found his soul mate, Diana Cross. What he never managed to do was come to grips with his father's murder or to forgive him for creating the circumstances that lead up to it. Now his mother has died and he is without Diana. While he struggles to confront his demons, Alex reunites with five former teammates to play in a hockey tournament that becomes bigger than any of them could have imagined and ends up changing their lives. As the team captures the public's imagination, Alex's past finally catches up to him and so does the danger that comes with it. As a result, he has to figure out how to protect the woman he loves and find the peace that has been eluding him for so many years...and win The Tournament.