Although 25 years have passed since they last hoisted Lord Stanley’s famous silver chalice, the Montreal Canadiens hockey team, or le Club de hockey Canadien to those whose passion runs deep, still has a mystique all its own.
Canada’s greatest hockey club – with 24 Stanley Cup titles to prove it – are coming to town.
For one night, fans can watch and meet their heroes as the Montreal Canadiens alumni visit Burnaby for a charity game to benefit Burnaby Family Lives.
It’s a special event on Feb. 9 at Bill Copeland Sports Centre, where the game will pit members of Les Habs alumni against a co-ed team from Burnaby with the focus on fun and charity. While the game is the main part of the festivities, fans will also have an opportunity to meet and talk with team members at a post-game reception dinner at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown.
“This is the first time for us doing this,” remarked BFL fund development coordinator Nancy Grenier. “The Montreal Canadiens are a very popular club and the alumni is very active. They do these kinds of charitable events with cross-country tours.”
Burnaby Family Life is a charity that offers quality supportive services for families from Burnaby and neighbouring communities in need. The non-profit organization offers free individual and group counseling for children between three-and-12 years of age who have experienced or witnessed abuse, educational activities for parents and children, help for refugee families in making cultural integration and resettlement, and support for single mothers, expectant mothers and new immigrants.
As evident by their many fans' emotional display at Rogers Arena whenever Montreal comes to play Vancouver, Quebec’s hockey team has a passionate fanbase that stretches across the nation. Fans may have caught Les Canadiens fever during their firewagon hockey years in the 1970s, or the cup runs of the 1960s.
Expected to be behind the bench is Steve Shutt, a Hockey Hall of Fame member and a player with five Stanley Cup champions.
A partial preliminary list of participants, which may change due to availability, include Jesse Belanger, Marc Andre Bergeron, Patrice Brisebois, Matthieu Dandenault, PIerre Dagenais, Glenn Metropolit, Oleg Petrov, John Scott, Richard Sevigny and Mike Weaver.
The game, which starts at 4:30 p.m. at the Copeland Sports Centre, will also feature MC Steve Darling, tribute artist Bobby Bruce of Nearly Neil fame, and a mini-hockey game featuring players from the Burnaby Minor Hockey Association. The reception and post-game dinner begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown.
The Canadiens alumni team is renowned for working with charitable groups around Canada.
All proceeds raised will go to Burnaby Family Lives, which has been helping people in the community for the past 47 years.
Tickets for the game or the game and reception are available at https://bflgrowscommunity.org.
