Among those presiding over the ceremony was Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey, who was voted onr of the top 100 players in NHL history.
"It's fantastic," Coffey said. "The Royal Canadian mint did a great job. It's a great three things to celebrate, the 150th birthday of our country, the 125th of the Cup and the 100th of the league. It's pretty special."
Designed by Canadian artist Julius Csotonyi, the coin depicts a picture from inside the net with the puck going past a goaltender and a number of players rushing the net.
"We wanted to do something really special with the NHL to celebrate the 100th anniversary," Sandra Hanington, president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint said. "We're not constrained by shape, so in this case we actually decided to make a real hockey story and make it from the vantage point of behind the net. So you actually see the puck in the air on the way to the net. It's a really exciting design and it comes to life."
The coin has a limited mintage of 6,000 and is available for purchase
here
.
This is the third commemorative coin the Royal Canadian Mint has launched in 2017. The Mint released a coin celebrating the milestone of the Stanley Cup and another celebrating the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"This is about being part of Canada," Hanington said. "I'm a hockey mom to start with and it's been a hockey year for us and we love it. We think that we're sort of part of telling Canada's story, and hockey is always going to be a big part of that."
