Hometown Hockey takes over Downtown Kitchener
Posted Oct 11, 2015 05:00:11 AM.
Last Updated Oct 10, 2015 04:49:38 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The national hockey spotlight is on Kitchener this weekend, and some big names are in town for the occasion.
Ron MacLean will be broadcasting live from outside City Hall on Sunday at 6:30pm, and a whole host of familiar faces will be coming through as part of the celebration.
Three-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Jennifer Botterill, is here this weekend for Hometown Hockey.
She says Kitchener is one of the best crowds the second annual tour has seen:
“I think that’s a huge credit to this community — how much they embrace hockey and celebrate the game. We’re both thrilled to be here [speaking of herself and co-emcee Tara Slone]. It’s an honour.”
“There are so many fantastic hockey stories out of Kitchener — so many Rangers players have gone on to play in the NHL — so there’s no shortage of things to discover and talk about,” Slone adds.
One former Kitchener Ranger, Nazem Kadri, will be signing autographs downtown on Sunday starting at 5:30pm.
Another former Ranger, Hall of Famer Paul Coffey, will take part in a Scotiabank Hotstove with fellow Hall of Famer and Leafs great Darryl Sittler.
“Hockey’s the fabric to the way we live in Canada, you know?” Sittler says.
“[As a parent,] you spend a lot of time in the hockey rink drinking your coffee, and you socialize. It becomes a way of life for a lot of Canadian families.”
Sittler grew up in St. Jacobs and says when playing for the Elmira Sugar Kings, he was a nervous kid.
“I was only 15, 16, playing against [19-year-old] men, you know?” Sittler says. “And because I had a passion and loved it, the reason I was drafted third overall in the OHL was because I was successful in doing it.”
He says it’s still special to see new generations of hockey fans who want to meet him:
“It’s very humbling and rewarding. I try to never lose sight of where I came from, the way I grew up. Hockey was something I loved doing, and I was fortunate to do it and have a good career.”
With files from Jeff Pickel.
