Atlanta players coming to play at Canadian Pond Hockey Face-off

Atlanta Thrashers Press Release

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Three Atlanta-area youth hockey players will make a trip to North Bay, Ontario from Feb. 13- 15 to play in the 2009 Canadian Pond Hockey Face Off, an annual 3-on-3 hockey tournament to celebrate pond hockey as a part of the sport’s heritage and to raise funds for improving hockey initiatives at the grassroots level.

Nathan Weingarth (The MIC), Chase Pearson (The Cooler) and Joey Graefe (The Duluth IceForum) were selected by program directors from their local rinks and will be brought to North Bay, all expenses paid, by the Canadian Pond Hockey Outreach Program. Chris Uber, the Thrashers Manager of Community Hockey Development, will accompany the three players on their trip and will serve as the team’s Head Coach for the tournament. The three Atlanta-area youths are active members of USA Hockey and are the only U.S. players out of 350 participants in the Canadian Pond Hockey Face Off. The goal of the outreach program is to be global ambassadors for the game of hockey by inviting players, who otherwise may not have the opportunity, to play in the Canadian Pond Hockey Face Off.

Connor Wood, Alex Ayers, and Andrew Kristoff were the local players selected to represent Georgia and USA Hockey in the 2008 tournament. Two seasons ago, following the Thrashers preseason contest in North Bay against the Islanders, the offer was extended to the team to bring three of Atlanta’s own up for the tournament. During the outreach program’s first year in 2006, it sponsored a group of children from New Orleans that had been affected by Hurricane Katrina. In 2007, a disadvantaged team from Moose Factory was the recipient of the all-expenses paid trip to North Bay.

All three players and their families have been invited to the Thrashers home game tonight against the New Jersey Devils and will take part in a post-game meet-and-greet with forward Chris Thorburn, who played three seasons of major junior hockey with the Ontario Hockey League’s North Bay Centennials from 1999-2002.