BayToday.ca Sports Editor and 2007 Kraft Hockeyville Chair Chris Dawson shares the Hockeyville trophy with some young hockey fans shortly after North Bay was named Hockeyville seven years ago. FILE PHOTO.
Yes, it may be hard to believe but Wednesday, September 17th marks the 7-year anniversary of North Bay's Kraft Hockeyville celebration when our community hosted an NHL game between the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Thrashers in 2007.
Seven years may seem like a short time to some, but boy, when it comes to hockey a lot of things have changed in our community.
First off, the Ontario Hockey League is now back in North Bay - something many of us in North Bay thought would never happen again after Eugene Melynk elected to sell his franchise to a group in St. Catharines, and the Mississauga IceDogs became the Niagara IceDogs.
That all unfolded during the 2006-07 season when the perceived OHL snub became the lightning rod for hockey fans in North Bay to rally and vote North Bay in as the Hockeyville Capital that year.
University hockey arrived on the scene in 2009 as a Men's Lakers team took the city by storm in the fall when more than 2,500 fans flocked to the Gardens for an exhibition game against the Ottawa Gee Gee's.
In 2013, the University added a Women's program led by former NHLer Darren Turcotte.
One of the key components of Hockeyville's submission has been taken to new levels as well.
Coach4Food, which was only in year-two back then, has recently expanded into the rest of the Ontario Hockey League markets starting this fall. The program created by Tom Hedican used hockey to help the needy in our own community by running professional level hockey practices in exchange for food.
The Canadian Pond Hockey Face-off, a tournament which took place on the Education Centre pond behind Canadore and Nipissing no longer exists.
The Pond Hockey Outreach Program which brought in young players from Louisiana, Mississippi, Moose Factory and Atlanta to play hockey on a pond, was a way North Bay used hockey to help others.
The first group from the Gulf Coast was a crew of young peewee-aged players who lost their homes after Hurricane Katrina struck the southeastern US in the fall of 2005.
In fact, both the Canadian Pond Hockey Face-off and the Monster Pond Hockey tournament are both now a thing of the past.
Facilitiies
Memorial Gardens had a significant facelift since 2007. Now three teams call that arena home.
Most in the hockey community have heard rumblings or rumours about a new twin pad being build north of the city but right now all that seems to be is rumour.
We all can agree that Pete Palangio and West Ferris haven't changed much since 2007.
Hockeyville Future?
Of course, the Hockeyville competition has changed drastically.
In 2007, North Bay received $50,000 which went towards building the illuminated sign which still stands outside the new-look Memorial Gardens.
Now, $50,000 is the amount given to each regional semi-finalist. Sylvain Lake, Alberta, which was crowned Hockeyville in 2014, received $100,000 in arena renovations plus a pre-season NHL game.
But is this community based Hockey competition going to be around after 2014?
With TV network changes at Hockey Night in Canada and the NHL broadcasting environment, Hockeyville may be on its last legs.
This fall Ron McLean, who was the Kraft Hockeyville host, is now hosting a new Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour which begins in October.
The tour will travel to 25 communities across the country, and in the north the two stops are Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, but not North Bay.
Either way, Hockeyville is worth remembering. It brought the community together, maybe in an unprecedented way.
Former North Bay Centennials forward Chris Thorburn talks to the media prior to the September 17th, 2007 game between the Atlanta Thrashers and the New York Islanders. FILE PHOTO.
