Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion

A rare opportunity to see alumni from the National Hockey League and Iron Horse Kindersley Klippers on the ice is coming up for people on Saturday.

It will be hockey night in Kindersley on Sept. 22 when former NHL stars and Klippers alumni hit the ice at the West Central Events Centre (WCEC). The alumni will be joined on the WCEC ice by average Joes to fill the remaining spots on the rosters.

There will be an autograph session before the alumni game from 3 to 3:45 p.m., and the puck drops for the game at 4 p.m. Admission to the game is $20 for people 17 years of age and up, $10 for youth 10 to 16 years of age and free for children who are under 10 years of age.

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The former NHL stars will be part of festivities after the game, and the NHL alumni will help with a kids skills camp on Sunday morning. People were able purchase tickets to attend the Bella Vista Hot Stove Lounge after the game.

Bella Vista Developments is sponsoring a guaranteed 50/50 draw for $1,000 at the Hot Stove Lounge, and there will also be a guaranteed 50/50 draw for $1,000 at the alumni game that is sponsored by Hill Acme Machine Ltd. The NHL alumni will share stories at the Hot Stove Lounge. The post-game affair includes a supper.

The list of former professionals includes Curtis Glencross, Brent Krahn, Colin Patterson, Dennis Polonich, Dwayne Hay, Derek Dorsett, Robyn Regehr and Russ Romaniuk. The big game will also feature former NHL official Mike Cvik, a 6-foot-9 retired linesman.

A long list of Klippers alumni will suit up with and against the former pros. People had an opportunity to pay a fee to play alongside the alumni, so a group of 20 recreational hockey players will suit up for the game.

Matt Glencross, a Klippers board member who has been instrumental in making the alumni game a reality, said the board was looking to do something different than a golf tournament. The inspiration to organize the NHL alumni game came from a discussion with his brother Curtis, he said.

He noted that Curtis told him about an alumni game he was a part of in Three Hills, Alta. Matt said fans packed the rink for the game, so it went over really well. His brother told him it was an awesome event, and it could work.

Matt said the game in Three Hills did not include post-game activities like the Hot Stove Lounge, so it was an addition to the idea. Organizers are anticipating in excess of 300 people for the post-game festivities, he said. The plans for the alumni game have been in the works for a while.

“We were going to try to do it last year, but we wanted to take some time and do it right,” he said, recognizing that organizers wanted to make sure they put the time and effort in to the event to make it a success.

Each of the recreational players gets a custom jersey, a ticket to the Hot Stove Lounge and four tickets to the alumni game. Matt said people could purchase their tickets at the door. The game will consist of three periods and the clock will stay running for each of the periods, the organizer said.

According to Matt, the coaches for the game will be Terry Shea and Kevin Edgerton. He said Curtis helped to round up the former professionals by sending out an email to Calgary Flames alumni, so his brother has been a big help.

He noted that the goal of organizers was to keep people at the rink for the game and the post-game festivities because the Kindersley Sr. Klippers, a team he will coach this season, is putting on the Goose Festival dance later that night.

The Hot Stove Lounge will take place in the curling rink. Matt said he also had a lot of help from Jason Gray and Sarah Benjaminson among other helpers, so it is nice to see the alumni weekend shaping up. Things are starting to come together, so it is an exciting time for everyone.

“Seeing our plan come together has been good,” the organizer added, recognizing that the team gets strong corporate support and alumni game organizers reached out to a different set of sponsors for the event. “We’ve had good support from the community.”

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