The Vancouver Canucks Alumni will take on the Smithers Flyers in a double header.
The Vancouver Canucks contacted The Smithers Celebrity Golf Tournament Committee to see if they would be interested in organizing the event on behalf of the Canucks Alumni and with support from the Northern Mining Community.
“The Title Sponsor, Sassy Resources Corp. reached out to a number of mining companies and suppliers to provide the funds necessary to get this rolling,” said chair of the the Smithers Celebrity Golf Tournament Kent Delwisch.
“Many of the Canucks Alumni members have attended our charity golf tournament over the years and I guess they felt that we put on a great event and that we could do the same for them.”
The first match will take place in the Smithers Arena on Feb 29 and the second game will move outdoors to Tyhee Lake on March 1.
“The minerals industry has played a historic role in northwestern B.C. and in particular, Smithers,” added Delwisch. “That involvement led to the idea of having an outdoor game which traces the roots of northern B.C. hockey and the way it was played many years ago and continues to be played today. Of course, the outdoor game is weather dependant but it would have to be real bad to cancel it.”
He said the main event will be the indoor game with an autograph session, silent auction and other events planned for the general public.
They will be releasing the full lineups of players as the event gets closer.
“The Canucks haven’t given us their full lineup yet but we do know that Kirk McLean, Jyrki Lumme, Cliff Ronning and Dave Babych will be playing for them,” he said.
“They will be taking on the Smithers Flyers, which is essentially a team made up of some of Smithers’ best hockey players from the same era as the Canucks Alumni Team such as Tom Devries, Wayne Oud, Jerry Watson, Justin Flynn, Jordie Hutchinson, Ian Smith and a few others. The Smithers Flyers played against the Canucks Alumni in 2017 at Rogers Arena so there is a history between them.”
Tickets for the indoor game go on sale on December 15 at Dan’s Source for Sports.
All proceeds from the games will benefit the Smithers Minor Hockey Association.