Kenora 'very excited' to host Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada

Hockey culture runs deep in northwestern Ontario and right now, it's on full display in Kenora, Ont.

The city, located about 500 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, is the site for the 2017 national Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada celebrations on Feb.18.

• Stanley Cup and Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada 2017 skate into Kenora, Ontario

The community is buzzing with excitement about the event, said Tara Rickaby, the co-chair of the organizing committee.

"A few years ago we did make a pitch as well [when] it was pouring rain and everyone was playing hockey everywhere in every big parking lot," she said.

"Maybe [national organizers] remembered us for that, but they did reach out to Kenora last November."

Banners and posters marking the event are already starting to appear in storefronts around town.

The celebrations will see up to a dozen teams playing Canada's favourite winter sport, not in local parking lots, but on Lake of the Woods, in addition to other events, like a breakfast with the Stanley Cup.

A rink, which is being maintained by Kenora firefighters, has been set up on Safety Bay, right along the city's waterfront, for the pond hockey championship final. It will mark the first time in decades that hockey has been played at that site.

Less than a month away, Rickaby said the teams expected to take part in the tournament are almost full.

The hockey day festivities in Kenora are taking place the same year as the National Hockey League celebrates its 100th anniversary. The community's history with the Stanley Cup goes back further than that, with the Kenora Thistles winning the trophy in 1907.

The celebrations are also an opportunity to look forward, Rickaby said, as the pond hockey tournament aspect is expected to continue for the next three years.

"There may be an opportunity to expand," she said. "Scotiabank has come on board, they will provide the backing for that for the next three years."

"It's a volunteer base, and so far, the volunteers are very, very excited for it."

For now, however, the community is gearing up for this year.

"I was saying to somebody the other day that it takes a village to raise a child," Rickaby added. "Well, it takes a community like Kenora to show its heart, and we have that opportunity to show off during that week."

"We're very excited."