The irony isn’t lost on anybody. But sometimes you just have to go with the flow, even if it’s an Arctic outflow.
The underlying theme of Victoria hosting the 2024 Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada was to boast the Island’s mild-by-Canadian-standards winter to the rest of the country. But on Wednesday, former NHLer Geoff Courtnall shot a few forlorn balls into the snow at Victoria Golf Club as the scheduled celebrity round was obviously cancelled.
Organizers, however, are unruffled by the unusual turn in Island weather. They simply swept the snow off the $100,000 synthetic-ice rink installed at Ship Point, the Stanley Cup showed up for a foray around the rink and the show went on. As show runners, whether it be Broadway or the Olympics, you have to be troopers and ready for anything. The Victoria organizing committee is just that.
“We just roll with the punches. This is about celebrating the game and what it means to the country and we’ve never lost sight of that,” said John Wilson, head of the Victoria organizing committee.
“On Tuesday, we got shots that will be used on the broadcast of Ron MacLean whale watching and later walking the Malahat Sykwalk, and it was beautiful out. [Wednesday] it was snow and soon it will be typical Westcoast rain while Saturday looks to be nice for the actual broadcast day. We will see a real weather lineage leading to the broadcast and we will incorporate and celebrate that.”
Although they didn’t get to January golf-boast to the rest of the country, past pro hockey players from the Island such as Geoff Courtnall (brother Russ will be arriving Thursday), Matt Pettinger, Greg Adams, Steve Lingren, Brad Palmer and Matt Ellison still settled in at Victoria Golf Club clubhouse Wednesday to reminisce and swap old stories.
“We are so proud to celebrate the city we love, our Island, and what it has produced from previous generations to players now like the Benns and Tyson Barrie, and to show that off nationally on Sportsnet,” said Pettinger, the former NHL Washington Capitals, Vancouver Canucks and DEL Germany forward.
Sportsnet released the other details of Saturday’s 12.5-hour national broadcast of Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada, with stories of Island hockey wrapped around NHL games featuring all seven Canadian teams.
Singer Nelly Furtado from Victoria will open the marathon broadcast with reflections on her hometown. Former NHLer and now-Islander Andrew Ference and the Nature of Things co-host Sarika Cullis-Suzuki will detail how the Westhills Recreation Complex in Langford is incorporating energy efficiency and sustainability into its operations.
Other features will include those on the 1925 Stanley Cup-champion Victoria Cougars and Micah Zandee-Hart of Saanichton, who at Beijing in 2022 became the first women’s hockey player from B.C. to win an Olympic gold medal, and the effect that has had on female hockey on the Island and throughout the province.
A big focus of the broadcast will be mental health and what the Courtnalls have done to bring attention and concrete aid to the issue. A segment of the broadcast will feature former Victoria Salmon Kings player Brady Leavold and his journey back after sliding to rock bottom following his hockey career with a life of homelessness and petty crime due to mental health and addictions.
The full Hockey Night in Canada panel — including Ron MacLean, Evanka Osmak, David Amber, Kevin Bieksa, Elliotte Friedman, Jennifer Botterill, Kelly Hrudey — will be on hand Saturday broadcasting atop Milestones Restaurant with sweeping views of the Inner Harbour as a backdrop.
“Faulkner once said that you celebrate something at the expense of its playfulness,” said MacLean.
“But that hasn’t happened yet with this annual celebration of a sport and its connection to a country.”
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