Hockeyville Chair Chris Dawson has one last look at the cup with son Caleb. Dawson says ironically through out the whole Hockeyville year, the last weekend with the trophy was the first time his family truly posed with the cup.
Hockeyville Chair Chris Dawson has one last look at the cup with son Caleb. Dawson says ironically through out the whole Hockeyville year, the last weekend with the trophy was the first time his family truly posed with the cup. Photo by LeeAnne Dawson.
It was one year ago today that an anxious Hockeyville Committee, surrounded by a standing room only crowd, gathered at their favourite local hockey restaurant to watch the ultimate rivalry game between Toronto and Montreal, as well as learn the fate of their bid to win Kraft Hockeyville’s 2007 title.
"I still remember standing in front of everyone at Don Cherry's on the deciding Night which just happened to be St. Patrick's Day. The announcement was going to come down after the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs game that night. I was set up with an earpiece and ready to do an interview with Ron MacLean if we won. The game went into overtime and a shootout before the decision finally came down,” explains Chris Dawson, Hockeyville Committee Chair.
“I was sceptical when Christine from HNIC told me that camera's were in all 5 finalists communities that night. But I did get quite nervous when the windows on Hockey Night in Canada showed the live shots in both North Bay and Cornwall.”
“But when the producer in Montreal said turn your earpiece up it's going to be loud I was pretty confident we were the champions. When I heard Gary Bettman say "The winner of Kraft Hockeyville 2007 is North Bay, Ontario. Congratulations," I started screaming and the fans at Don Cherry's nearly blew the roof off the building. It was a night I won't soon forget,” he adds.
Dawson, who recently relinquished the coveted Hockeyville hardware as the CBC and Kraft get set to crown another community with the Hockeyville title, fondly remembers the night’s celebration that was similar to Stanley Cup wins.
“It was that night that the trophy got its first unusual experience in North Bay. I promised to Ron MacLean that I would rollerblade with all the committee members through downtown North Bay. I had my roller blades, but no one else wanted to brave through rollerblading on the ice free but gravel covered sidewalks in downtown North Bay. It was dangerous, but myself and most importantly the trophy survived the ordeal without incident.”
“I believe that was the most dangerous incident that involved the Cup in my tenure as the Hockeyville Keeper of the Cup,” he says.
As the cup made its appearances around town Dawson walked away with countless stories, but he says one person repeatedly demonstrated his love of the title and says that memory is dear to his heart.
“The day after we were named Hockeyville, we were asked to bring the trophy to the Skyhawks game the following night. One of my favourite moments with the trophy unfolded that night as Danny Guillemette - an enthusiastic die-hard hockey fan who probably appreciated the Hockeyville victory more than anyone else in town. When I entered Memorial Gardens I saw Danny and placed the trophy on his lap. With tears in his eyes he chanted, 'Hockeyville, Hockeyville!' - this was his Stanley Cup moment. Ironically only a few months later at Canadore College Danny was able to hold the Stanley Cup on his lap during the Hockeyville celebrations on Sunday, September 16th.”
“The Trophy also made its round throughout the city, schools hosted Hockeyville days and excited classmates posed for a picture with the 2-year-old trophy. Churches, boy scout brigades and the Eurocamp Hockey School all celebrated in one way or another with the Hockeyville Trophy. “
“Hockeyville Committee member Heath Marson also took the trophy into enemy territory as he brought it along to a Benson Autoparts Company Hockey Tournament in Cornwall, where Marson showed off the prize to the folks from the other finalist community. He admits that he rubbed it in a bit, but at the end of the day the Cornwall folks were good sports and they all posed for a photo with the cup at centre ice in the Cornwall arena,” says Dawson.
It was a year that no one in the community will soon forget especially Dawson, but crating up the trophy and sending it back to Toronto was one sure sign for the committee chair that the festivities are drawing to a close.
“The Hockeyville Trophy endured black fly season as photographer Ed Regan took the committee on a journey with all his lighting gear through the bush for a team photo up on the escarpment.”
“Even Hockeyville committee member Trina St. Jacques kept with the Kraft Hockeyville theme by eating Kraft dinner out of the bowl of the coveted trophy without tarnishing the silver,” he says.
