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Junior hockey fever grips downtown Calgary

Meghan Potkins, Calgary Herald, December 14, 2011

Hockey fans getting excited before the world junior hockey champion-ship invaded the downtown Tuesday.

Businesses and charities sought to drum up excitement among downtown lunchers for the high-calibre hockey tournament that will see the gold medal game take place at the Saddledome on Jan. 5.

KidSport Calgary volunteers were at Bankers Hall encouraging Calgarians to "paint the town in Canadian flags" in support of Team Canada.

The group is selling vehicle-mounted flags with proceeds going to thousands of lowincome kids in Calgary who need financial assistance to participate in sports.

KidSport manager Mark Kosak hopes international fans in town to watch the juniors are over-whelmed by Canada's show of patriotism and enthusiasm for the sport.

"This is a sports town," said Kosak.

"The world juniors grip this country and here it is in our own backyard."

Kosak is hoping to take advantage of the city's excitement for the tournament to bring attention to kids who face barriers to participating in sports like hockey, soccer and swimming.

"There's a lot of support here, not just for the pro sports, but for amateur sports, and I think people understand that it's important for every kid to have the chance to play sports."

Also downtown Tuesday morning were two hockey fans who had run the equivalent of nearly a marathon per day for the last eight days in the name of sport.

Jogging down Stephen Avenue were two Sport Chek employees, fresh from a 300-kilometre journey from Edmonton to Calgary.

Pam Harman, 22, and Davin Swift, 25, ran in bone-chilling conditions to drum up support for the world juniors and will be rewarded by their employer with tickets to the gold medal game.

"(I love) the passion and the energy that the young guys have," said Swift, of Canada's junior players.

"And just seeing the amount of emotion that comes out of those young players makes for great hockey."

The world juniors tournament kicks off with Canada vs. Finland on Boxing Day in Edmonton.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."