The fourth annual EDPA Hockey Extravaganza was played Wednesday in honor of Tony Barras, who made his career in the tradeshow industry and was an inspiration in founding the charity event.
“He played hockey and was a legend in the industry,” says Bill Hinchliff, president of IPME and one of the event organizers along with Angie Johnson and Gayle Wright. “He desperately wanted to play, but unfortunately months before the tournament he became ill. He lost his battle with cancer.”
Barras was part of the first conversation Hinchliff had about the possibility of a game, with Matt Farrell of Hamilton and Sean Clarke of CVS Studios boasting how the East would annihilate the West. The idea was to build a network of hockey players within the industry and do something different from golf tournaments, Hinchliff explains.
“We want to show his desire for wanting play with us,” Hinchliff says prior to the hockey game at City National Arena in Las Vegas. “We consider him as one of our players forever.”
Barras hails from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., where he played high school football and hockey. He went on to play hockey at Ferris State University, a Division 1 school.
Barras started his tradeshow career with Nth Degree in California, founded Term Group labor services in 1997, and spent his final years as vice president of client services for EWI Worldwide, which had acquired Term Group in 2012.
Hinchliff met Barras at CES, working jointly on a project for Kia, and they connected as fervent hockey players. Hinchliff began recruiting players for the EDPA Hockey Extravaganza, and Barras committed to joining the team.
“He said, ‘Keep me posted.’ The craziest part is I didn’t know what was going on with him until I saw him as a recipient for the Randy (charity golf tournament). That’s when I got emotional,” Hinchliff recalls.
