It’s almost that time of year to grab your sticks and lace up your skates in Bradford.
The town is hosting its 16th annual Hockey Day celebration and tournament between the BWG Minor Hockey Association’s U7 teams on the outdoor rink at Bud Brown Park (7 Dixon Rd.) in Bond Head from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Feb. 1.
In a news release, Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu said he was “thrilled” to hit the ice for the yearly event.
“This is a great opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate our love for Canada’s favourite sport,” he said. “Gather your friends, family, and neighbours and join our local U7 hockey teams for a fun-filled day of friendly competition.”
Anyone who works up an appetite or just wants a brief break from the winter weather can pop into the nearby Bond Head Memorial Community Centre where the town plans to offer hockey-themed games and face painting, and where the Bradford Lions are planning to serve coffee, hot chocolate and pancakes as part of a cash-only fundraiser.
Last year, 60 kids participated as part of six teams, and while that event was moved indoors and changed to a ball-hockey tournament following unseasonably warm weather, Terry Foran, director of recreation and cultural services, said he doesn’t expect that to be the case this year.
“Weather is unpredictable, (and) last year it was nearly impossible to maintain the ice due to the warm weather,” he said via email.
However, Foran explained this year has provided “great conditions,” allowing staff to prepare the ice surface earlier than in previous years, and based on the long-term forecast he suspects they’ll be able to keep that ice for a while.
Even though weather is the main challenge, creating a good outdoor ice surface for residents to enjoy requires effort and planning even when Mother Nature does cooperate, and Foran explained that staff are committed to do “whatever it takes” to provide residents with as many skating days as they can.
That frequently requires working extra hours and overnight when its coldest and temperatures are more likely to hit the -10 C target for ice making. Staff typically continue working those cold dark shifts for five to seven days in order to build up the needed 7.5-centimetre-thick layer of ice over the pads, and even once that’s done, they need to perform regular inspections and flooding to maintain the surface.
Since the town first began hosting the annual event in 2009, Foran could only recall two instances when it had to be moved indoors, and one other time when a ball-hockey tournament was held outdoors on the pads. The event also didn’t run in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the chill in the air, staff aren’t leaving anything to chance, and Foran explained they already have a back-up plan that would see the event switched to ball hockey and moved into the Bradford and District Memorial Community Centre and Don Harrison Auditorium, but only if needed.
In that case, they would notify the hockey association and post an update on their website.
While the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) began airing an annual Hockey Day in Canada tournament from Toronto in 2000 and has since hosted from different Canadian towns each year, Bradford launched its local event in 2009 as a way to celebrate a favourite winter sport and bring the game back to basics with a fun, friendly tournament.
For more information, visit the town’s website.
— With files from Paul Novosad
