Canada's National Women's hockey team to play at PMC in March
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Excitement is mounting as the Ottawa Valley Thunder Girls Hockey teams prepare to host the Canadian Women’s National Hockey Team in Pembroke on Saturday, March 30.
The competitive girls’ hockey organization, the Ottawa Valley Thunder, is hosting the game between Canada and Sweden’s National Team as a lead up to the Women’s World Hockey Championships to be held April 2 to 9 in Ottawa.
“Our organization is fortunate to have the opportunity to host an exhibition game featuring Team Canada’s National Women’s Team against Team Sweden’s National Women’s Team,” said Chris Pleau, event organizer. “The response to this game has been very strong, even in the early stages of 2013.
“By the time the game is on, the Thunder will have prepared for the game for more than a year,” he added. “The capacity of the memorial centre is 2,200 people and we expect a sell-out game, hopefully as early as February.”
Beginning with the inaugural world championship in Ottawa in 1990, Canada’s women’s team has never finished worse than silver, winning the first eight world titles (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2004) and claiming its tenth in 2012.
While the pre-competition game will be the highlight of the day, the Thunder anticipates its full-day hockey program will also be a hit. With the full support of Hockey Canada and the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association, the Thunder has also developed a full day of hockey action at the Pembroke Memorial Centre, which will focus on young girls interested in the sport. In the morning, atom and peewee players currently playing hockey can participate in a four-hour Hockey Canada Skills Camp comprised of on-ice and off-ice instructional sessions, focusing on puck control, passing, skating, shooting and having fun. The off-ice sessions look at the theme of respect in hockey as well as conditioning. The fee per player is $70 ($90 includes exhibition game ticket) and covers the costs associated with the program including jerseys, water bottles and ice time.
Also planned will be a Try Hockey session for girls who just want to experience the sport. There will be a $10 fee for each participant for this workshop meant to give children an opportunity to don skates and see what the fun is all about in a relaxed, no pressure setting.
In the afternoon Thunder competitive hockey teams will take to the ice at the PMC in four exhibition games starting with the two peewee teams, followed by the bantam and midget teams. There is no charge for spectators who are encouraged to come out and cheer on these skilled female hockey players.
At 6:30 p.m. Canada and Sweden will take the ice for warm up with their game scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 and are available to the general public beginning Jan. 15 at Pleau Electric, 208 Morrison Road, Pembroke.
“With this being the first Canadian National Team game in Pembroke, we do expect a high demand for tickets,” Mr. Pleau said. “Plus the entire day of March 30 will be a showcase of girls’ hockey in the Ottawa Valley and shouldn’t be missed.
“We are in need of corporate sponsors, business sponsors, vendor donations and services. There are various aspects that our local businesses can assist with and various options are available.”
Any additional information can be obtained by emailing Mr. Pleau at chrispleau@gmail.com.