Campbellton prepares for Hockey Day in Canada

It's the talk of the town, and it's not Christmas or the possibility of a coalition government that has people here all abuzz.

The countdown is on for Tim Horton's Hockey Day in Canada, and organizers in this city in northern New Brunswick that borders Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula are finalizing the plans for the Feb. 21 festivities.

"I can't wait for Christmas but you know what's happening after that is coming fast," said Ian Comeau, chairman of the local Hockey Day in Canada committee. "We're getting ready for one of the biggest events in this city's history. We're excited and you can feel the buzz."

Organizers are trying to have something for everyone and the list of events includes minor hockey clinics and games featuring local minor hockey teams, outdoor pick-up games, parties, and even a Don Cherry lookalike contest.

A list of NHL alumni who will participate in the minor hockey clinics and play in pick-up games is being kept a secret until after the New Year. Comeau said local hockey fans will be thrilled to hear who is coming to this city that sits on the bank of the Restigouche River, which is one of the best salmon angling rivers in the world.

"I'm looking forward to the pick-up game,'' said John LeBlanc, a local hockey hero who played in the minor leagues with Anaheim Ducks coach Randy Carlyle and Kris Draper of the Detroit Red Wings.

Organizers will also pause to pay tribute to Luc Bourdon, who played for the Vancouver Canucks and who died in a motorcycle accident last summer. This part of New Brunswick has a significant Acadian population and Bourdon was from Shippagan, which is in the heart of the Acadian Peninsula. Bourdon was an icon in their closed-knit community.

The festivities actually begin on Feb. 19 and they coincide with the city's Snow Fest, an annual winter festival.  A parade will wind its way along the waterfront to the Civic Arena, where Campbellton will play Summerside in a Maritime Junior League game that night.

Outdoor games featuring local minor  hockey teams and teams from neighbouring communities along with a girls high school game are on tap for Friday, along with pick-up games, a boot-hockey game and reception which sold out shortly after the 800 tickets went on sale.

Civic workers have braved frigid temperatures and bone-numbing winds over the last couple of days to start work on three outdoor arenas located a short slap shot from the Civic Arena.

One organizer, Murdock Mann, has been working his connections in the local hockey community in an effort to search out pictures of local players and teams that gained regional and national recognition for their accomplishments.

This city has rich hockey tradition and while it has not sent many Campbelltonians to the NHL, local teams have had much success. The Campbellton Tigers teams of the mid-1970s won three Hardy Cup titles, symbolic of Intermediate A hockey supremacy in Canada.

Mann was caught off guard this week when someone brought in a picture of a high school girls' team from the late 1930s.

"We want to show people what hockey here used to be, what it's like now and what we are planning for the future," said Comeau.

Since the official announcement in June that Hockey Day in Canada was coming to Campbellton, Comeau has heard from long-lost friends more times than he cares to remember.

"They say they're coming back. They want to be there because this is the place to be," he said. "If you don't have a hotel room by now, good luck."

LeBlanc frequently checks a facebook.com page on the Hockey Day in Canada in Campbellton and is amazed by the degree of excitement for the event.

"This is going to be fun," said Leblanc, who runs the Campbellton Minor Hockey Association.

"I know the kids will be excited. They'll get a chance to play on television, see Don Cherry and meet some NHLers. That is just great."