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Goalies Reimer and MacDonald sign autographs for a long line of excited hockey fans (image courtesy of Clayton Hansler/THW)
I remember the moment that I decided hockey was the sport for me. I could not have been more than five or six years old, hand-in-hand with my mother at the local mall. A few players from the OPJHL Newmarket 87’s had shown up to sign autographs and the young forward chuckled, impressed as I presented the sleeve of my coat for him to sign.
The AHL’s Toronto Marlies, in keeping with their dedication to the community, took to the ice Monday night at the Vic Johnston Community Centre in Streetsville Ontario giving their fans an experience they would not soon forget.
Richard Greenop's line takes a breath and allows teammates to run the drill (image courtesy of Clayton Hansler/THW)
At first it seemed to be all business as the Marlies performed various passing, cycling and shooting drills. But with 15 minutes remaining in the scheduled practice, members of one lucky Streetsville Amateur Minor Hockey Association team took to the ice with their heroes.
The mood turned light, and the smiles spread wide as Marlies passed the puck back-and-forth with hockey’s superstars of the future. It was not long before the atmosphere got the better of both the professional and amateur parties and the horseplay began. Many of Toronto’s Marlies stayed on the ice long after the 15 minute session was up to continue the games of keep-away.
One of those was St. George Ontario’s Adam Munro, currently on his second year as goaltender for the Toronto franchise. “It’s a lot of fun to do it with the kids” says Munro, “You look forward to these things, we’ve done two in the last two weeks and its been a blast.”
Once the Marlies had changed out of their work clothes and packed them away for transport, the players then greeted the large group that had come out for the community practice.
Jiri Tlusty posing for a picture with his new buddy (image courtesy of Clayton Hansler/THW)
Similar to the chance I was awarded many years ago, the players signed autographs and took pictures with the excited hockey fans. Though most were not old enough to apply for a drivers license, they were able to answer some very tough Marlies trivia questions such as: “What was the team name before becoming the Marlies” and “who was the team’s captain their first year in Toronto?”
The fun was shared by more than just the players and devotees. Melissa Keen, the AHL game night host for all Marlies home games at Ricoh Coliseum, relishes the experiences had while joining the team in the community. “It’s great to really see the support, especially from the younger kids who usually don’t get those types of opportunities and can just participate and have fun with these big guys” said the effervescent host.
The trip to Streetsville marked the third community practice event for the Marlies in this fledgling season, with many more to come.
“It’s something to look forward to” said Michael Amaral, a local Marlies enthusiast that is old enough to drive himself to the event. “It’s also cool to see them skating on the ice that I grew up skating on.”
As the smiles of approval and few choice words spoken by a member of a local hockey club helped cultivate a deep love for the game in me at a young age; the fowards, defensemen and goaltenders of the Marlies provided that same experience to hockey’s future players, commentators and spectators.
Join the Marlies on November 21st for their first Marlies in Movember night at Ricoh Coliseum. Many Marlies players and staff will be proudly showing off their Movember ’stache. $5 of every $20 ticket purchased will be donated to Prostate Cancer Canada. Get your ticket by visiting http://www.torontomarlies.com and entering special offer code: MOVEMBER.
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