STANLEY CUP AND HOCKEY GREATS VISIT SUN PEAKS
Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada 2016 kicked off in style with a celebration combining hockey and skiing at the opening ceremonies in Sun Peaks on Feb. 3.
A large crowd gathered in front of a stage at the base of the mountain beside the Sundance chairlift as snow fell heavily from the night sky.
Ron MacLean opened the night by telling stories of watching local Nancy Greene Raine claim the Olympic gold medal at Grenoble in 1968 and skiing on Tod Mountain in 1992. He introduced former NHL stars Darcy Tucker and Trevor Linden, who received the biggest cheer from the crowd. The two reminisced about playing junior hockey in Kamloops, Tucker as a three-time Memorial Cup champion with the Kamloops Blazers and Linden losing to Kamloops in the 1986 Western Hockey League final.
“The fact it’s Sun Peaks and just the legend of Nancy Greene Raine. Before there was Tiger Woods, before there was Tiger Williams, there was Tiger Greene,” MacLean said. “She and Al have dedicated their lives to the sport of skiing. I just thought it was nice that we could share the Cup with that couple who have been such a collaboration of what I think is the best sport and we’re doing it with all these great NHL alumni.”
“When I saw that we would be at Sun Peaks that was very special and make this one unique.”
Kamloops band Shattered Blue played a live outdoor concert and got the crowd dancing as they waited restlessly for the arrival of the Stanley Cup.
Hockey’s most prized trophy made a grand entrance, leading a torchlight parade through the heavy snowfall down Sunbeam run before being carried on stage by Stanley Cup champions Mark Napier, Bryan Trottier and Lanny McDonald.
“The kick off to Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada was outstanding up in Sun Peaks. The snow was falling, you couldn’t have got a better setting for it,” Tucker said. “I’ve never seen the Stanley Cup come skiing down the hill. You know what was cool about it was the lights. It made it illuminate in a way I’d never seen it before.”
“It was just magical,” MacLean said. “Mike Bolt, the keeper of the Cup, has been such a loyal part of what we do. I wonder if Mike finds that one of the most amazing things he’s ever done with the Cup?”
Hockey fans then had an opportunity to have their photo taken with the Stanley Cup and meet the NHL alumni in Masa’s Bar + Grill to wrap up the opening night of the four-day hockey celebration taking place in Kamloops.
“I think the neatest thing is that we branched out from just doing a hockey deal to doing a ski and hockey deal, which was reflective of the area,” MacLean said.
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