Hometown Hockey draws large crowd in Thunder Bay

Superior Morning5:50Hometown Hockey

What a crowd! What a wonderful weekend! CBC's Jeff Walters took in some of the festivities at Prince Arthur's Landing as part of the Hometown Hockey event.

Thousands of hockey fans turned out to take part in the Hometown Hockey celebrations at Prince Arthur's Landing this weekend.

The event drew hockey fans and players alike, along with young players and hockey veterans.

Wyatt Harrison is one of the many kids who brought his skates, and took a few laps on the waterfront rink.

"It's fun," said Harrison. "I score goals."

Minor hockey teams played games of boot hockey in a boarded rink, while other kids had the chance to try out their shooting accuracy.

Hundreds of people lined up to get an autograph from NHL legend Wendel Clark.

Jay Coulter waited outside for over an hour with some jerseys to get the autograph of his favourite hockey player.

"I eat, sleep, breathe hockey, just like everybody else in Thunder Bay does," said Coulter."And, I'm looking to get a signature from the one and only Toronto Maple Leaf, Wendel Clark."

Thunder Bay native, and retired NHL'er Greg Johnson was also featured on the weekend.

A constant lineup kept Johnson busy signing autographs.

Johnson attributed the city's recreation facilities for its high calibre hockey players.

"I lived at the outdoor rinks. If you wanted to practice, there's so many rinks here. Great coaches, great volunteers. It's just as I say, a great foundation for when the kids start at the age of five, six, seven, all the way up."

Allan Cup

A more exclusive event, tied into the Hometown Hockey celebrations was a breakfast featuring the Allan Cup.

The trophy is awarded to the top amateur men's hockey team in Canada.

Thunder Bay has the distinction of winning the trophy the most - bringing home the cup ten times. Over a hundred former hockey players, coaches and fans went to the breakfast to reminisce about their hockey memories.

Wally Presengerwas part of the winning Thunder Bay Twins team in 1984, 1985 and 1988.

"Even at this level we didn't get paid for playing hockey, but we loved the game."

"You'd do anything...the money wasn't an issue. When you love the game that much, you'd play for nothing."