Former NHL player Theoren Fleury will be in Yellowknife this weekend appearing as a special guest for the 2016 Memorial Hockey Challenge.
The trip will mark Fleury’s first to the NWT capital.
He’ll also be joined by former Calgary Flames teammates Dana Murzyn and Jamie Macoun, whom he won a Stanley Cup with in 1989.
“I feel very blessed and fortunate to have done what I did through hockey,” said Fleury. “I played my whole life and had an opportunity to be a part of some really cool things in the hockey world.
“Having the opportunity now to give back and be a part of so many great events and charities is great, it’s going to be a great cause.”
Read: 2016 Memorial Hockey Challenge Set, Will Benefit Hay River Family
In addition to being a Stanley Cup champion and seven-time NHL All-Star, Fleury was also a member of Canada’s gold-medal hockey team at the 2002 Olympics.
He’s looking forward to making his first trip to the city.
“In a place like Yellowknife – where you’re thousands of miles away from seeing an NHL game or players – it’s cool that me and a couple of my teammates from the 1989 Stanley Cup team are coming up,” he said.
“It’ll be fun to hang out with those guys for a couple days.”
Fleury will also host a luncheon on Monday from 12:00pm to 1:30pm at the Explorer Hotel and is expected to visit Hay River and Fort Simpson following the Memorial Hockey Challenge.
Since hanging up his skates, the former All-Star has developed a career as a public speaker and published an autobiography called Playing with Fire.
The best-selling novel documents some of his past struggles with substance abuse and the fact that he was sexually abused by a former coach.
Memorial Hockey Challenge
The 10th annual Memorial Hockey Challenge will be played on Sunday at Yellowknife’s Ed Jeske Arena with puck drop scheduled for 1:00pm.
The charity event will follow its original format, with RCMP officers facing off against Yellowknife firefighters.
The game commemorates the lives of Cyril Fyfe and Kevin Olson, Yellowknife firefighters who died on duty in 2005, and RCMP Cst. Christopher Worden, who was killed in the line of duty in Hay River nine years ago.
This year, proceeds from the event will support the family of Hay River’s ‘bubble child’ – Deagan Clavette – who’s battling a rare form of mast cell disease.
It will also support YK Cares, which distributes food to underprivileged children in the community.
Tickets for the event, which is being orchestrated by the Northern Safety Association, RCMP and the City of Yellowknife, cost $30.
You can buy them at a number of locations, including Force One, Shoppers Drug Mart, City Hall and the Yellowknife Fieldhouse.
