While many attended last Friday’s Lloydminster Region Health Foundation gala — or stayed indoors to avoid what was hopefully the Border City’s last snowstorm — two men were sharpening their hockey-fighting skills.
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Travis Levitsky and Dylan Schellenberg were at the Cenovus Energy Hub preparing for their May 14 bouts at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Enoch, Alta.
The pair have been training for the upcoming Bare Knuckle Ice Wars event since being introduced through Garrett Tepper at Lloydminster’s Fight Farm.
Dubbed “prize fighting on ice” by Ice Wars president AJ Galante, the combat sport first came to Alberta in 2022 and featured some of the toughest players in hockey. Levitsky was one of them.
“It’s hockey without the hockey. It’s all the fun stuff,” said Levitsky at the Hub. “Everybody goes to a hockey game and wants to see the shenanigans. Here, there are no sticks, no gloves, no pucks — just fights.”
Levitsky said the events run like a night at the UFC, complete with lights, intro music, cheering fans and no-holds-barred fighting on ice.
Those elements piqued the interest of Schellenberg, who grew up playing junior hockey in Drumheller.
“I’ve been competing in martial arts for 13 years — MMA, bare-knuckle boxing. I got my start in junior A hockey and started scrapping, and that’s where I fell in love,” he said. “Right now, we’re trying to put a game plan together, but everyone has a plan until they get hit in the face — then it changes.”
Bare Knuckle Ice Wars is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the River Cree Resort and Casino on May 14. Tickets start at $79 and are available here.
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