SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA ON CBC

LIVE FROM P.E.I. ON SATURDAY, FEB. 11

Week of celebration includes marquee concert headlined by Sarah Harmer, Chris Murphy and Dave Bidini
along with four games featuring all seven Canadian NHL teams

SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA journeys across the Confederation Bridge to bring its nationwide broadcast to Prince Edward Island for the first time, on Saturday, Feb. 11, beginning at 12 noon ET as Ron MacLean hosts live from a specially built outdoor rink in Summerside, P.E.I. MacLean will be joined by Don Cherry for Coach’s Corner, with fellow CBC stars and hosts P.J. Stock, Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Dick Irvin. The NHL Alumni will also have a strong presence with Bryan Trottier, Lanny McDonald, Wendel Clark, Doug MacLean, Mark Napier, Stéphane Richer, Tim Taylor and Gerrard Gallant, along with Olympian Tessa Bonhomme.

The 2012 edition of SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA celebrates “Heroes”—from childhood idols to the organizers who make the game possible on and off the ice, to the motivators and role models who are part of the fabric of hockey. The program features a wide range of inspirational stories, from Kelly Hrudey’s profile of a 23-year-old St. Albert man who continues to play hockey while waiting for a heart transplant, to Mark Lee’s story about 90-year-old Bert Keany Sr. of Sudbury, Ont., the oldest PA announcer in the country. Another feature profiles 16-year-old hockey phenom Nathan McKinnon, the Cole Harbor star who’s playing in the shadow of Sidney Crosby, while another feature looks into the way a small island like P.E.I. has produced so many outstanding players, from Forbes Kennedy to Brad Richards.
In addition to the P.E.I. broadcasts from Summerside and Charlottetown, satellite locations will also be established in Windsor, N.S., Verdun, Que., Thunder Bay, Ont., Winnipeg, Man., Prince Albert, Sask. and Richmond, B.C. for a host of community events also taking place across the country to mark SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA:

Windsor, N.S. – CBC News’ Colleen Jones hosts the “Long Pond Heritage Classic” featuring “Original Six” teams playing a day-long tournament to raise money for the Hockey History.
Verdun, Que. – Host Andie Bennett joins the Montreal Canadiens organization for a skate drive to provide rinks with loaner skates.

Thunder Bay, Ont. – CBC Sports’ Scott Russell covers a special equipment donation as the NHLPA’s Goals and Dreams initiative and the Staal family come together to give back to minor hockey.
Winnipeg, Man. – A special family-focused SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA event live from The Forks hosted by Mitch Peacock.
Prince Albert, Sask. – Mark Connolly hosts coverage of a Pee-Wee Tournament with 16 teams from across the province.
Richmond, B.C. – Celebrities including Michael Bublé, Trevor Linden and other Canucks alumni take part in a ball hockey tournament at the Richmond Olympic Oval, hosted by Karin Larsen.

SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA also presents a star-studded, hockey-themed concert created by Dave Bidini, Stolen From a Hockey Card at the Confederation Centre for the Arts, in Charlottetown on Thursday, Feb. 9. Hosted by Ron MacLean, Stolen From a Hockey Card is a hockey-themed concert which pays tribute to Canada’s love and passion for the game of hockey. The impressive all-Canadian lineup of artists for the concert includes songstress Sarah Harmer, Chris Murphy (Sloan), Lennie Gallant, Stephen Stanley (Lowest of the Low), Carmen Townsend, Liam Corcoran (Two Hours Traffic), Bidiniband and former New York Islanders great and Hockey Hall of Fame member Bryan Trottier, who will perform a cover. All of the other artists have composed original hockey songs specifically for this concert.

The SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA Stolen From a Hockey Card concert will air live on CBCSports.ca at 7 p.m. ET, and again on Canada Live, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. (2:30 NT) on CBC Radio One, and 7 p.m. (7:30 NT) on CBC Radio 2.

On Saturday, Feb. 11, at 2 p.m. ET, the NHL action gets underway as fans in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northern Ontario (outside of Thunder Bay) and Atlantic Canada will see the re-born Jets take on the Penguins in Pittsburgh while the rest of Ontario, as well as Quebec and Alberta will see the Senators host the Oilers in Ottawa. Live coverage of SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA continues from P.E.I. at 4:30 p.m. ET, with Scotiabank Hockey Tonight following at 6:30 p.m. ET. Montreal then takes on Toronto at the Air Canada Centre at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Vancouver at Calgary in the late game at 10 p.m. ET.

Hockey fans can visit CBCSports.ca/hockeyday for live and on-demand streaming of SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA, including coverage from the satellite locations, all four NHL match-ups featuring the seven Canadian teams and more. Fans can also connect with SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA through social media by visiting facebook.com/CBCSports or by joining the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #hockeyday and following @cbchockeyday.

Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi with Harnarayan Singh will bring viewers the Leafs/Habs and Canucks/Flames matchups, while Telelatino’s all Spanish channel, TLN en Español, will provide coverage of the Montreal-Toronto game in Spanish and TLN’s Mediaset Italia channel will have it in Italian.

CBC News’ Peter Mansbridge will be reporting from the SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA festivities on Thursday, Feb. 9 for The National. And CBC News Network will be on-site Friday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb. 11 with live reports throughout both days.

HNIC Radio on SIRIUS XM will also be live on location in P.E.I. with host Gord Stellick along with special guests throughout the week. HNIC Radio on SIRIUS XM features intelligent hockey talk, insight and debate, keeping fans up-to-date on all the breaking news and issues from the world of hockey.

And in the days preceding SCOTIABANK’S HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA, P.E.I. will play host to a variety of special events including visits from CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA personalities and NHL Alumni, including a series of minor hockey clinics and school visits. Hockey’s Holy Grail will be making appearances across P.E.I. beginning Wednesday, Feb. 8 as part of the province-wide Stanley Cup Relay, giving thousands of fans the chance to see hockey’s biggest prize. The SCOTIABANK HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA Luncheon will be held Feb. 9 in Summerside, with a Banquet following in Charlottetown on Feb. 10. Several hockey games will be taking place in P.E.I. on Saturday, Feb. 11, with a CIS matchup between St. Thomas and UP.E.I. from Summerside, an afternoon QMJHL tilt featuring St. John vs. P.E.I. in Charlottetown and an MHL game in Summerside pitting Miramichi against Summerside. The Scotiabank Bigger Save Game featuring a local all-girls squad versus a team all the way from Abbotsford, B.C. also goes on Feb. 11.