And the crowd goes wild!

Stephenville will forever go down in history when hockey legends visited the west coast town, on January 7th 2006, as CBC hosted Hockey Day in Canada. The sponsored event was held in the town to help raise money for minor hockey.

Due to the recent closure of the mill and the unexpected flood this past fall, the town could really use any help given and the support from this event was phenomenal, even if the event was aimed at hockey kids.

The community, surrounding areas and the province itself were in complete excitement from the many different activities that took place throughout last week’s event as well as the visitors that showed up in town.

Adults and children of all ages packed tightly in the stadium and other areas just to try and catch a glimpse of Don Cherry, the all famous host of Coach’s Corner, along with his right hand man, Ron MacLean.

However, there was more that brought excitement to the people. Loud rants and roars were heard all over town when the unexpected visitor, the Stanley Cup was bought in the stadium. The line up for pictures was outrageous.

Wendel Clark, former captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs was there to show his support for the event and to help the town in need. When he wasn’t signing cards, hockey sticks, jerseys and more he was on the ice helping various junior teams and coaching the kids.

I was quite amazed as a spectator during the event to see the attitudes of parents and children at the stadium. The weather that day was not what we call great. It was bitter cold and as the evening went on, a mix of snow and rain began falling.

Ron MacLean, hosted a two hour special on CBC during the afternoon live from outside Stephenville Dome. Actions from parents really surprised me as I watched them try their hardest to get their children next to him and have that chance to show their face on TV. Most of the children didn’t even look old enough to understand the sport and some of them just showed very little interest in the whole thing.

I remember one little boy in particular in his father’s arms. When his dad asked him if he was enjoying the show with Ron MacLean, the little boy said he was watching the ball hockey game that was going on behind him, and then asked to go inside and warm up. I couldn’t believe it when his father said ‘just a few more minutes’.

I don’t understand why parents try so hard to decide for their children what it is they should be interested in. Even though it was nice to see CBC and the team host hockey day in Canada in a little Newfoundland town, not all kids are into the hockey sport and that’s their own choice.

I grew up with an older brother who was quite the hockey fan, and played it himself, so there wasn’t much choice for me in not liking the sport. When a game was on TV there was no getting the remote control from him, and so after watching countless games with my brother I began to like the sport myself.

However, it was quite interesting to me standing there watching the show and see looks on kids’ faces that were really involved and interested in hockey, especially the ones that played hockey. Their expressions held more excitement as the day went on then I had seen on children’s faces during Christmas morning. They would scream and cheer whenever they got a slight glimpse of Don Cherry (which was not very often), or when Ron MacLean was in their eye’s view.

I realized that hockey is a huge deal to some, more than others, and there were so many people, young and old, trying their best to get autographs from anyone they seen, and a snapshot whenever possible.