Arena to share name of 2 hockey veterans

Fredericton city council has unanimously approved the request of the namesake of Fredericton's newest hockey arena to include the name of his deceased friend.

The $20.6 million facility, which is being built on Fredericton's southside, was scheduled to be named the Danny Grant Centre after the National Hockey League veteran.

But Grant — who played left wing with the Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota North Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings — decided to ask the city to share the honour of having the arena named after him a few months ago.

Fred "Buster" Harvey, 57, a close friend of Grant, died in November after an eight-month battle with cancer.

Harvey, a former Fredericton resident, was best known for playing with the Minnesota North Stars during the early 1970s. He also played with the Atlanta Flames and the Detroit Red Wings before returning to New Brunswick to serve as head coach of the Fredericton Red Wings in 1979-80.

Grant said he thought the arena should include Harvey's name and approached Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside about the idea several months ago but was told to think about it.

"This was a no brainer as far as I'm concerned," Grant said. "Buster has a lot of friends in the province of New Brunswick and they wanted to see something done. Not that anybody said anything to me, I just knew down in my heart that we had to do something for him."

The motion to change the rink's name was put before a council-in-committee session on Monday night and unanimously approved.

"I was expecting maybe city council would take maybe 24 hours to think about it, or something like that … It was probably one of the happiest moments I've had in a long, long time," Grant said.

The new name of the arena is expected to include the last names of both hockey players.

The new arena will also feature displays on the accomplishments of both Grant and Harvey.