The Vancouver Canucks are on their way to Prince George today and tickets for this weekend's three-day training camp are a scarce commodity.
Lineups were steady Wednesday at the CN Centre ticket office and it's quite likely all three days of the morning scrimmages will be sellouts. At $5 a pop, with nearly 6,000 tickets available each day, all proceeds will be donated to local charities through the Canucks For Kids Fund.
Prince George has never hosted a Canucks training camp and hockey fans are in for a treat knowing they'll be close to the action on the ice when the Sedin twins start weaving their intuitive magic as linemates preparing for the new NHL season.
It's also a chance for local fans to see the warp speed of slick sophomore centre Bo Horvat and how adept veteran D-man Dan Hamhuis has become at breaking up offensive rushes since he left the Prince George Cougars for the pros in 2002.
All eyes will be on Cougars defenceman Tate Olson, drafted by the Canucks in the seventh round in 2015. The 18-year-old from Saskatoon looked solid rubbing shoulders with pro prospects in the Young Stars tournament in Penticton and he'll be throwing his weight around trying to impress his new bosses.
"Our arena is small, so that's great for being able to see the Sedins and all the superstars up close," said Andy Beesley, the Prince George Cougars vice-president of business.
"There's no question it certainly helps having Dan Hamhuis as one of (the Cougars) owners but it goes far beyond that. Trevor Linden was very clear when he told us about why Prince George and the CN Centre and it's because Prince George is blossoming and is being seen as a great place. The Canucks recognize things like the Cougars success we had last season and the rebirth of hockey in Prince George and they wanted to be part of the North.
"I know how much time, energy and resources and money it's costing them to come up here and it's not insignificant. They really are contributing a lot of themselves to be up here because they could just as easily have done it closer to home."
Following fitness testing in the morning in Vancouver, the Canucks (four goaltenders, 20 defencemen, 33 forwards) are due to arrive in Prince George this afternoon. They'll be split into two groups for training camp with the first on-ice sessions scheduled for Friday at 9:20 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. The same schedule applies on Saturday.
On Sunday, the Canucks veterans will be practicing the power play, starting at 9:45 a.m., followed by an intrasquad scrimmage involving mostly prospects starting at 11:20 a.m. Players will be available for autographs in the CN Centre parking lot an hour after they leave the ice.
"I think it's wonderful, it's always nice to go into a new community," said training camp organizer Kalli Quinn, the daughter of Canucks legend Pat Quinn. "I know Pat used to try to take it around (to other B.C. cities) quite a bit and I'm glad Trevor (Linden) is trying to do that again, it's good for the province."
The camp includes several events away from the ice which will give fans access to the team.
Canucks president and director of hockey operations Trevor Linden and general manager Jim Benning will be the guests of honour at the Scotiabank Canucks town hall breakfast hosted by the Prince George Chamber of Commerce from 7:30-9 a.m. on Friday at the Civic Centre. Tickets are available online for $25 each. Go to pgtourismpg.com for the web link.
Then at 9:30 a.m., Mayor Lynn Hall will be on hand with other members of city council to raise the Canucks flag at City Hall. The city has proclaimed this as Canucks Week and on Friday people are being encouraged to wear a Canucks jersey to work or school.
Each day of the camp, from 8 a.m.-2 p.m., FortisBC is hosting a Party in the Parking Lot at CN Centre with food, entertainment and activities for fans. A majority of the activities are scheduled for Saturday, starting with the Save-On-Foods pancake breakfast from 7-10 a.m. Admission is $6, with donations going to the B.C. Children's Hospital. DJ Ant will be cranking out the tunes and mascot competition will follow at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Some of the Canucks players will be on hand for the kids-only media conference in the parking lot following the last on-ice session Saturday at about 2 p.m. Canucks and Cougars coaches will take part in the Hot Stove open-mic interviews at the upstairs Kin 1 lounge starting at 3 p.m. The Hot Stove is open to minor hockey coaches, players and parents who have pre-registered at canucks.com. There's a limit of 200 Hot Stove passes available. Each registrant is entered in a draw for two seats in the Avaya Champions Club Suite for a regular season Canucks home game.
The Cougars will play their only WHL exhibition home game Saturday at 7 p.m. when they host the Kamloops Blazers. A pre-game tailgate party sponsored by Save-On-Foods and Integris starts at 4:30 p.m. and will feature participants in the Cops for Cancer Tour de North.
Before the Canucks begin their scrimmages on Sunday, two groups of 40 minor hockey players will get to skate with the Canucks and several Cougars in skill sessions at 8 and 9 a.m.
The Canucks are bringing a wide range of team jerseys and other souvenirs for sale during the camp. During the Canucks scrimmages, the Cougars will offer their 50/50 draws. All money raised at the camp will go to organizations which support local grassroots minor hockey development.
