Sylvan Lake Atom B2 Lakers were able to hold their home game against Innisfail Flyers thanks to the support of the Flyers and Innisfail Minor Hockey Association.
The Lakers donned their white home jerseys and held a ceremony of thanks Sunday morning in Innisfail. It consisted of the players lining up to give gifts to their opposition as well as for a ceremonial puck drop.
Coach Ryan Lucas presented the Flyers and association with a poster which included the team’s photo against a backdrop of three pictures of the arena, one of the front, another of mist rising from the surface and the top one of the collapsed roof. It was signed by the players and reads, “Thank you for your support in our time of need!”
Immediately after, both teams gathered together holding ‘Kraft Hockeyville Go Sylvan Lake Go’, banners to capture the moment.
Guest speaker Graham Parsons thanked the community and association. He said over 20 games were organized and played in surrounding communities during the weekend due to the loss of Sylvan’s arena and encouraged all the fans to go online and vote for our Sylvan’s Kraft Hockeyville campaign.
The Atom Lakers appeared fired up after the ceremony and went on to shut down the Flyers in an 8-0 victory. After the hand shake, the Lakers rallied to centre ice and raised their sticks in a thank you to the crowd and to signify a win for their arena.
Special thanks to Graham Parsons for attending and all the hard work he is doing behind the scenes to make things run smoothly. Also to Dianne Womacks and Tracey Sapach at TS Photos for the design, photos and hard work on short notice and to Kris Lindberg for organizing and announcing the event and game.
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