By Dave Leaderhouse
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League will be front and centre when the annual Cameco Hockey Day in Saskatchewan celebrations take place in Shellbrook on Jan. 21.
The event, which is held to promote the game at various levels and offers a different community each year an opportunity to be showcased on a grander scale, will be packed with a number of activities highlighted by the SJHL game at 7:30 p.m. between the Notre Dame Hounds and the league-leading Battlefords North Stars.
Battlefords head coach Nate Bedford and his group of team captains were in Shellbrook last month to help launch the event when they took part in a floor-hockey game with local students.
Hockey Day in Saskatchewan is actually a week-long event with more than 140 local minor hockey players taking part in a three-on-three tournament throughout the week to kick off the celebration.
On Jan. 20 a banquet will be held with seven-time Stanley Cup champion Bryan Trottier, a native of Val Marie, Sask., being the keynote speaker. A full day of hockey action will follow on Jan. 21 with the Prince Albert Northern Bears taking on the Swift Current Wildcats in a Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League game beginning at 1 p.m. Next up will be a Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League tilt between the Prince Albert Mintos and Beardy’s Blackhawks at 3:30 p.m. with the slate of activities culminating with the SJHL contest between Notre Dame and the Battlefords at 7:30 p.m.
For the first time ever the Hockey Day in Saskatchewan celebrations will carry over to another day and another venue when activities will be held in Pinehouse on Jan. 22. While there won’t be any SJHL teams making the trip up north, Trottier, along with the same female Midget AAA clubs and Beardy’s will head to the northern community with the Battlefords Stars being the opposition in the men’s Midget AAA contest that day.
Saskatchewan has a great hockey tradition and this is one way for every community to share in the rich history in addition to raising some funds for a variety of projects that might otherwise not be able to be completed
Learn more about Cameco Hockey Day in Saskatchewan at http://www.hockeydayinsask.ca/
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