Residents of the Southwest will get a chance to show off their fantasy hockey knowledge early next month, as the first ever Black Tie Hockey Draft will take place at the Living Sky Casino.

The Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation and the Field of Dreams have partnered together to host this event that will feature 24 teams of 8 people.

"Initially we're looking at doing a smaller scale draft, mirroring what the Herbert Hawks have done in the past. It was always a good night out and got a lot of hockey people together getting them excited about the playoffs," Brad Woods Chairperson of the Field of Dreams said. "Then we heard what was going on with the foundation, we thought if we could put our two (ideas and organzations) together we could have a good group of resources and some good manpower to put it all together."

Each team will pre-select four players of their choice and submit them to the commissioner before 6 p.m. the night of the draft. The final four rounds of the draft will be live at the Sky Centre and will consist of players not already selected by other teams.

"The idea is we're going to have a bunch of hockey people in the room," Woods added. "You're going to go up in front of everybody make your picks and I think it's just going to take it to the next level. Everybody can sit in their basement and do their own hockey draft, this is going to be that next level draft."

The funds raised at the draft will help the Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation purchase two new defibrillators for the Cypress Regional Hospital.

Part of the funds raised will also go towards the Swift Current 57's and the minor baseball program in the City of Swift Current.

20 of the 24 tables for the draft have been sold as of last Thursday, with the top prize being $5000. For more information and a full set of rules of the Black

Below is a full set of rules for the Black Tie Draft.