Komets Blaze at Hockey Day in Canada

Komets - Under the Lock Tournament

Last weekend (February 8th & 9th) was an exciting, fun-filled experience for our Jack McGee Kawartha Komets hockey teams.

On Friday evening Carol and I participated in the Hockey Day in Canada banquet at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.  

I (David) had the privilege and honour of saying the grace before the delicious meal.  

As part of the festivities, the Komets were the recipients of 15 sets of new hockey equipment, compliments of the NHLPA's Goals and Dreams fund.  This came as a complete surprise to us.  We received sets of new equipment in the past and we, again, were blessed by the generosity of the National Hockey League Player's Association.

Kaeden Ball & the Mascot

As an added bonus, the Jack McGee Kawartha Komets will be the recipients of a portion of the proceeds from the banquet...sharing this honour with two local sledge hockey teams, the Kawartha Blazers and the Kawartha Patriots.

On Saturday afternoon a combined Intermediate/Senior Komets team hosted the Innisfil Snowdogs at the Kinsmen Arena and then our Juniors took on the Junior Snowdogs.

Meanwhile over at the Trent Canal, another combined Intermediate/Senior Komets team was preparing to play an exhibition/demonstration game as part of the 4th Annual Under the Lock Tournament.  Half of the team played in their Komets jerseys and the other half played in NHLPA jerseys...in appreciation of the generous support from the Goals & Dreams fund. 

These activies were all part of Scotiabank's Hockey Day in Canada festivities in Peterborough.  

Later in the afternoon several Komets players donned their equipment again and played a game of shinny as the backdrop to Ron MacLean's interview with two members of the NHLPA, Steve Webb and Steve Larmer.  Following the interview MacLean joined in and played with our guys.  Lots of fun!

The day was capped off when 55 of our Komets players and parents were the guests of Selwyn Outreach Centre in one of the Skyboxes at the Memorial Centre.  The Peterborough Petes battled the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and came out victorious, 3-2.  It was Pink in the Rink night and many of the capacity crowd of just under 4,000 fans were dressed in pink T-shirts.  Former NHLer and Peterborough native Cory Stillman headed up this campaign to raise money for Breast Cancer research and awareness in honour of his mother who passed away last year from cancer.

Ralph & Peter Dykstra

Our generous sponsors, Mary McGee and the McGee family, donated Pink in the Rink T-shirts for all the Komets in the Skybox.  Thank you so much!

What a fantastic weekend!  Tiring but rewarding!  The Jack McGee Kawartha Komets got national exposure, fifteen sets of new equipment andsome of the proceeds from the banquet (we don't know how much was raised yet).

Now we're preparing for the HUGE Special Hockey International Tournament in Kitchener, Ontario, March 14th - 16th.

Blaze Komets, Blaze!