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June 03, 2010
NR.075
EDMONTON, Alta. – The City of Champions will once again take centre stage later this month when both of
Canada’s gold medal-winning Olympic hockey teams will be live at Commonwealth Stadium for a very special
event – For the Love of Country and For the Love of Hockey: Canada Celebrates Our National Heroes.
This once-in-a-lifetime event will feature members of Canada’s Men’s Olympic Team who won gold in a
thrilling overtime Olympic final, including captain Scott Niedermayer, and members of Canada’s Women’s
Olympic Team who won a third-consecutive Olympic gold medal in Vancouver, including captain Hayley
Wickenheiser.
Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team will also be honoured, having captured Canada’s first-ever gold
medal at the IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship this past April.
For the Love of Country and For the Love of Hockey: Canada Celebrates Our National Heroes will be a
special event and concert where members of Canada’s men’s and women’s 2010 Olympic gold medal-winning hockey
teams will celebrate their accomplishments with a special salute to the members of Canada’s military and
their families.
“The Hockey Canada Foundation is excited to be part of a great week in Edmonton at the end of June,” said
Tom Bitove, chairman of the Hockey Canada Foundation board of directors. “We know that the City of Edmonton
and all of Alberta are up to making this event that our Olympic and World champions and members of the
military will never forget.”
“The men and women who serve our country inspire us through their sacrifice and service to defend, protect
and to help others – whether in a natural disaster or in defending human rights and freedoms,” said Doug
Goss, event chairman. “The men and women who play hockey – along with athletes in all sports – inspire us by
what they achieve, and help us believe that we too can be the best at what we do and who want to be.
Together, our troops and our hockey teams show us we can do anything and anything is possible.
Together, in different ways, they are our national heroes.”
The event will feature interviews with many of the key players on Canada’s gold medal-winning hockey
teams, as well as performances by the Mike Plume Band, The Mudmen, and George Canyon, who, along with Crystal
Shawanda, will lead a major tribute to Canada’s military with his song “Back in Your Arms Again” – a tribute
to Canadian soldiers past and present.
The event is being held in conjunction with the Hockey Canada Foundation’s annual gala and golf tournament
being held in Edmonton on June 28 and 29, featuring a gala dinner at the Marriott at River Cree Resort
following the Canada Celebrates event on June 28 and celebrity golf tournament at the Blackhawk Golf Club and
the Edmonton Petroleum Club on June 29.
“There are two things that best define our national spirit and bring all Canadians together as one –
hockey and Canada’s military,” says Bob Nicholson, president and CEO of Hockey Canada. “When Canada’s Olympic
gold medal-winning hockey teams gather in Edmonton on June 28 to celebrate their accomplishments, it is the
perfect time to also recognize and celebrate the achievements and efforts of Canada’s military and the
families who sacrifice and share their loved ones for the love of country.”
Proceeds from the Canada Celebrates event will go to the Hockey Canada Foundation (www.hockeycananda.ca),
which supports minor hockey programs in Canada, and to the Canadian Heroes Fund (www.herofund.ca), a charity that provides academic scholarship to the spouses
and children of soldiers killed in combat.
Tickets for the event are only $10 each (plus applicable fees and taxes), based on open seating at
Commonwealth Stadium, and go on sale Monday, June 7 at 10:00 a.m. online at Ticketmaster.ca,
via phone at 780-451-8000 and at all Ticketmaster outlets.
Doors open at 4:00 p.m., entertainment begins at 4:30 p.m. and the show is scheduled to start at 5:30
p.m.
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