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HomeNewsThousands pack Canada Summit Centre for "Hockey Night in Huntsville"

Thousands pack Canada Summit Centre for “Hockey Night in Huntsville”

Huntsville filled the Don Lough Arena at the Canada Summit Centre to the rafters to help raise money for the Rotary Club of Huntsville’s “Hockey Night in Huntsville” fundraiser.

Photo credit: Mathew Reisler

Proceeds from the game went towards a four-season sports pad the Rotary Club hopes to build at Lions Lookout in Huntsville. Late Rotarian Ross Kirwin was the brains behind the idea. He passed away last April. “The term ‘driving force’ is one that is often heard when a project moves from a mere thought to a successful venture,” a write-up in the game’s program about Kirwin reads. “It is also a term that is often heard when friends and fellow Rotarians talk about the late Ross Kirwin.”

The Toronto Maple Leafs alumni took on a team of Huntsville’s finest. The Leafs greats won 6 to 4, but the final score was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Rob Saunders, Chair of the Toronto Maple Leafs Alumni Game Committee, was part of the Huntsville team. During the first intermission, he spoke to the MyMuskokaNow.com newsroom and estimated close to $40,000 was raised because of the game. “Everyone loves hockey,” he said. “A lot of people are here because of the project.”

The Leafs legends included former captain Wendel Clark and Rick Vaive, who scored 50 goals in three straight years for the blue and white.

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Huntsville native Briar Summers sang the national anthem before the game.

The Huntsville Sting girl’s under-15 team played the Leafs alumni for five minutes at the end of the first (Photo credit: Mathew Reisler)

The highlight of the game for the fans came with five minutes left in the first period. The Huntsville Sting girl’s under-15 hockey team took to the ice to battle the Leafs. Despite the best efforts of Adrian Musters, a dentist at Main Street Dental in Huntsville, the girls managed to score twice. Wendel Clark, who the fans cheered for every time he touch the puck, lost the game’s opening face-off to one of the girls and proceeded to trip her before she could skate away. He, of course, thought the officials made a bad call when they gave the Sting a penalty shot.

At the end of the first, a pair of Timbits hockey teams took to the ice and played for a few minutes, delighting the crowd. A few players from the Huntsville Otters were on hand as well to help clean up after the chuck-a-puck contest during the second intermission.

The Town of Huntsville’s website says the Don Lough Arena can hold 1,370 people, but outgoing Huntsville Mayor Karin Terziano says there may have been close to 2,000 inside. “It’s not often that you get to see the Toronto Maple Leafs, even if they are alumni, up close and personal,” she says.

Photo credit: Mathew Reisler

Terziano was originally pencilled in on Team Huntsville but injured herself in practice leading up to the big game. “I was trying to get the rust off and I got hurt,” she says.

She credits the Club for continuing to push for the game, even after multiple COVID-19-related delays. “Rotary never gave up,” Terziano says. “I think that sports pad is going to be a reality.”

“It’s amazing, the crowd is full in here,” said Rick Vaive. “It’s not a big area, but we love coming to these small places and filling the building.”

He predicted he would score a hat trick. He ended the night with two, but that wasn’t what was important to Vaive. “To support the community is wonderful,” he said.

“All we have is a picture and an idea and a concept,” Saunders said about the plan for the sports pad. He added that they will need support from the town, province, and community but said he is confident they will be able to make the idea work.

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