(Word count is 830ish. The basis for this article was the SHL Tickets PT from a while back, and I did this for my entry: https://i.imgur.com/AxmaRUn.jpg Figured I'd re-use it and get some media mileage from it at least.)

---

Players from all over the state of Colorado met today at the InGEN Arena for a competition like no other.

Rather than lacing up a pair of skates and donning a jersey though, these players arrived with one tool for success: a video game controller.

Over a thousand players gathered today for the second day of a video game tournament known as the InGEN Fight Nights, run collectively by the Denver Fighting Game Community, Akihabara Arcade in Westminister, and the Colorado Raptors SMJHL franchise. The event featured over a dozen different popular fighting games, including hits such as Street Fighter V, Tekken, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Super Smash Brothers. The event drew big crowds and participants across the state, with proceeds from the mandatory venue fee all going to local charities. Several high ranking players from the Southwest region, Canada, and even Japan also flew over to be present at the event.

"We're very excited by the growth of eSports and the opportunities it can provide to the Colorado Raptors." said Raptors assistant GM Johnny Hamilton. "All the people that attended gave to a good cause and had a fun time too, and we'll certainly be doing more events like this in the future!"

The event's highest entries came from Super Smash Bros, which featured over 500 entrants and was eventually won by top California player "VoiD" in convincing fashion after a 2-day gauntlet. The event that certainly stole the show, however, was the Street Fighter Alpha 3 tournament.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 is an older version of the popular Street Fighter games, released in arcades worldwide in 1998. However, the game still has a small, but dedicated, playerbase that continues to play it to this day. The bracket for Alpha 3 in the InGEN Arena drew 64 players, with one being an unlikely local standout: Nick Brain of the Colorado Raptors.

The British power forward and Winnipeg Jets prospect is known as an avid player of 1-on-1 fighting games, and has occasionally streamed on Twitch playing during his downtime. However, few expected the magical run he made during the event, where he proceeded to run down people in the early bracket with the pink gi-clad showman character Dan Hibiki, before switching to the demonic martial artist known as Akuma for later fights.

Nick eventually found himself in the tournament grand finals against a top-ranked Japanese player known as Makoto. With his hockey teammates cheering his every move, Nick won in fine style, taking a best-of-5 set 3 games to 1 to become the Street Fighter Alpha 3 champion of the InGEN Arena. Graciously however, Nick passed up the cash prize and sent it down the ladder to the 2nd and 3rd place finishers.

"It wasn't about the money." said a jovial Nick Brain after the grand finals in a Twitch interview with commentator James Chen. "It was about proving a point. The Japanese players flew all the way down here, they can have the money. I just wanted to prove I could play....... and I sure did didn't I?"

In addition to Nick Brain and most of the Colorado Raptors roster, a surprise appearance was made by former Captain and Challenge Cup champion Cassius Darrow, who flew down to the event to meet his old teammates and give away some gear via auction, with proceeds going to charity. Among the items auctioned by the young star defenseman was a game-worn and autographed Colorado Raptors jersey, and autographed stick used in the Challenge Cup finals, and two special arcade game controllers, designed with the Raptors logo printed on one and the SHL Challenge Cup printed on the other.

"Yeah everyone in the Raptors locker room is familiar with fighting games." said Darrow in an interview after the auction. "When Brainy [Nick Brain] came in as a rookie, we got curious about his games and played some with him, and he beats the holy living hell out of us. Its sort of a rite of passage in our locker room, to get beat down by Nick and his favorite character in all his pink karate man glory....... So I decided to pop by and support him, and give some of my stuff to the charity auction for a good cause. I owe a lot of my career to the Raptors, and its good to do stuff like this to give back to the community that supported us."

The charity auction was said to have drawn as much money as the event itself, with a rumoured total take of six figures going to local charities in the area, along with a sizeable donation from the Raptors themselves. Further game-worn memorabilia and fighting game apparel also were among the auction wares.

Overall, a successful event for Colorado, as they hope for at least some good karma from the event to help them going forward in their next SMJHL campaign.......