A few New Year hockey hits from the City of Champions:
IT’S QUIKCARD TIME IN EDMONTON North America’s largest hockey tournament (The Guinness Book of World Records says so), is gearing up once again for another successful week of competition.
Edmonton’s Quikcard Minor Hockey Week will take place this month, from Jan. 11-20.
This year marks the 45th annual tournament, which has grown to be one of the city’s most highly anticipated hockey tournaments.
The 2008 event will see 486 teams with players ranging in age from seven to 17, take to the ice on rinks in Edmonton, St. Albert and Sherwood Park.
The annual minor hockey week involves more than 8,500 participants, 3,000 volunteers and approximately $30,000 in donated time on behalf of refs to pull it off.
If you need convincing of the magnitude of the Quikcard event consider the following: – a total of 709 games will be played – in 24 arenas, on 31 sheets of ice – with 68 finalists earning bragging rights And when it’s all said and done, thousands of smiles and memories will have been created yet again. My eldest son has fond memories of playing his first-ever game under the bright lights of the West Edmonton Mall Ice Palace. Pretty exciting stuff for an eight year old.
Heck ... dad was pretty stoked too!
Organizers, give yourselves a collective pat on the back! You always do a tremendous job.
YOU GO GIRLS! No doubt about it, both interest and participation in women’s hockey continues to grow throughout the province and in Canada.
That growth will be celebrated Jan. 19th at the Jubilee Recreation Centre in Fort Saskatchewan, with the Fort Saskatchewan Female Hockey Council hosts’ activities and the league game between the Grant MacEwan College Griffins and the SAIT Trojans women’s hockey teams. Game time is 7:45 p.m.
There will be various activities during (50/50 draw, initiation game) and after the game, including an autograph session with the players in order to celebrate the growing female hockey program in Alberta.
Grant MacEwan is a big supporter of this grassroots program and is excited to help promote female hockey and show the many opportunities to use the sport for future endeavors and education.
Admission to the game is two bucks for adults, a loonie for children and female hockey players get in for free if they’re wearing a team jersey.
IDENTIFYING TALENT The first stage of female athlete identification for the under-16 Program will hit the ice at the Black Gold Arena in Leduc Feb. 14-16.
Members selected for that program could eventually have an opportunity to play for Team Alberta, which competes at the Canada Winter Games and Under-18 Women’s National Hockey Challenge.
The Alberta Winter Games is a core Hockey Alberta Development Program. There are eight different zones designed to give players an equal opportunity to show case their skills as well as receive top-level instruction and evaluation from quality people identified by Hockey Alberta.
As part of the program, an emphasis is placed on the development and identification of Alberta’s best hockey people that might have an opportunity to represent Alberta at future national or international events.
The Alberta Winter Games leads participants to the Program of Excellence in the second year of the development process.
