Only in Victoria would a show about hockey feature two gold medallists from the Summer Olympics.
But welcome to sports, Island style, where frozen outdoor ponds are about as rare as pucks in the Super Bowl.
Former rower Adam Kreek, retired triathlete Simon Whitfield and former NHLer Geoff Courtnall will be featured when Ron MacLean and the Rogers Hometown Hockey tour, which is broadcast nationally each Sunday night, rolls into the sa国际传媒 capital Feb. 27-28.
鈥淚 guess Jamie Benn isn鈥檛 available this time of year,鈥� quipped Whitfield, referring to the Dallas Stars captain and defending NHL scoring champion from Central Saanich.
鈥淪o I am going to have to keep up on the broadcast with Adam Kreek鈥檚 unique and inspiring energy.鈥�
Kreek, the most effusive member of the Elk Lake-based 2008 Beijing Olympics gold-medallist eight, is known for the enthusiasm he brings to projects.
鈥淲e鈥檙e both closet NHLers,鈥� said Whitfield, gold- and silver-medallist, respectively, at the 2000 Sydney and 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The Hometown Hockey show features hockey stories from a different Canadian city or town each week. The producers have decided to focus during the Victoria show on sports such as rowing and triathlon that can be performed here even in winter and which has allowed the Island to become a training hub for Summer Olympics athletes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great homage to Victoria and the tremendous sporting culture it has created and continues to create,鈥� said Kreek, who will be a CBC reporter this summer at the Rio Olympics.
鈥淭here is such a great sporting heritage here, that we will tell about on the broadcast, of all the great athletes Victoria has produced and hosted, especially because of the seven national-team programs that are based here. Simon and I got to know Ron MacLean well because he is the CBC Olympic host. This broadcast gives us a chance to promote the values and benefits of sport to a broader audience.鈥�
Courtnall played 17 seasons in the NHL and will give Hometown Hockey its namesake content. But he sees the broader horizon of Island sport.
鈥淰ictoria is the greatest place in sa国际传媒 to train because you can go outside year-round and run, row, ride, hike and the ocean is right next door,鈥� he said.
The public Hometown Hockey tour festivities run from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, at Ship Point on the Inner Harbour with live entertainment, food trucks, an interactive fan zone along with NHL alumni on hand. It concludes Sunday, Feb. 28, with the big-screen outdoor viewing party of the Vancouver Canucks-San Jose Sharks NHL game. There will be a pre-game show hosted live on site by Ron MacLean and Tara Slone in the Sportsnet mobile studio beginning at 3:30 p.m.
鈥淚 really got to know Ron [MacLean] and he is very interested, very passionate, and very committed,鈥� said Courtnall, who played 1,049 regular-season NHL games.
The story of the Courtnall family is featured in Hockey Towns, which is MacLean鈥檚 take on how players are affected by their hometowns. Several topical issues are explored in the 2015 book. MacLean addresses mental health through the Courtnalls going public about their father Archie鈥檚 suicide and the effect it had on the family.
鈥淚t was brave and beautiful,鈥� said MacLean, about the Courtnall family鈥檚 decision, during his book signing appearance in Victoria in October.
MacLean hosted the Courtnalls鈥� mental-health fundraiser in 2011.
鈥淚 am greatly looking forward to the [Rogers Hometown Hockey] Victoria broadcast,鈥� said Courtnall.
