Anyone who understands Kraft Hockeyville Canada knows it's not simply a preseason game.
Here in the Maritimes reside 2021 winner Elsipogtog First Nation, feted this week with festivals, a visit from the Stanley Cup and celebrating what Hockey Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier of Metis First Nation heritage called the spirit of grassroots hockey. Hockeyville is the first and perhaps only time the people of 2020 winner Twillingate, Newfoundland, and Elsipogtog First Nation will see the Stanley Cup and the NHL up close.
Festivities began with an alumni game in nearby Richibucto on Thursday and a picnic Friday at Chief Young Eagle Recreation Centre, where the Elsipogtog First Nation people played and watched hockey and gathered every Friday night for wellness and community.
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Those cherished rituals were taken away by a September 2020 fire that damaged the arena's interior. The response was a rally to bid for and win Hockeyville 2021. It continues with a red-carpet arrival introducing the Canadiens and Senators to many First Nation people, residents from New Brunswick and other parts of Canada.
The melting pot will be rich, different ways of life and rooting interests coming together.
"You're talking about getting out into the rural areas, away from your home ice, so it becomes kind of a neutral-site game in that regard," Trottier said. "There's a different kind of pride. The audience is going to be a hockey audience. They're going to be cheering for everything."
Fans die-hard and casual will be quick to note that the Canadiens begin their first full season under coach Martin St. Louis against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Bell Centre on Tuesday. They hope the preseason ends with a victory after going 0-6-1, this after a last-place finish (22-49-11) followed a surprise run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.
The Senators open at the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. A barrage of offseason moves have optimism high in Canada's capital, anticipating a run to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since losing Game 7 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Final, 4-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in double overtime. Ottawa is 4-3-0 after defeating Montreal 4-3 at Steele Community Centre Arena in Gander, Newfoundland to conclude Hockeyville 2020 on Thursday.