It may not feel like it outside this week, but there's still one more major hockey tournament in the southeast before the ice comes out for the summer.

The annual Strippers Tournament begins Wednesday night with 36 teams competing, including eight women's teams, 12 over-45 teams, and 16 over-30 teams.

The games will be played across three rinks: Affinity Place, the Power Dodge Ice Centre, and Bienfait Memorial Arena. Games begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening and run until Sunday.

"The tournament's been great...we always get requests every year to make sure people get their invites, they're always contacting us before we send them out," said organizer Steve Godfrey. "Everybody in town always asks when is it, what's going on."

In addition to the hockey, there's also plans for a DJ, beer gardens, a cabaret, and a live band.

Godfrey also touched on how the event supports the Estevan area.

"The (Estevan) Strippers put it on, and this is the 39th year that this tournament has been going on. Over those years, we've donated approximately $220,000 to local charities and minor sports and major sports," he said.

He added that organizers are already talking about how to make the 40th event special for next year.

"It's always a big event...it takes lots of manpower to put this together and everyone volunteers their time," Godfrey said. "So we'll have to come up with something real special for 40."

He added that the majority of hockey players participating are from the southeast, especially Estevan.