Newfoundland ready to finally celebrate Hockeyville win

GANDER, Newfoundland -- For those who have navigated the complicated journey from the outposts of this province, the return of professional hockey to the island is a reason to celebrate.

Kraft Hockeyville 2020, postponed two years by the COVID-19 pandemic, will see the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators playing a preseason game at Steele Community Centre on Thursday (6 p.m. ET; TVAS, ESPN+).
On Aug. 15, 2020, the NHL announced the small fishing village of Twillingate won the Hockeyville competition to host the game and receive $250,000 for upgrades to George Hawkins Memorial Arena, and $10,000 worth of equipment from the National Hockey League Players' Association's Goals & Dreams fund. But the Twillingate arena is too small to host the game, so Gander, 90 miles to the south, will host it.
Daniel Cleary
left Harbour Grace, about 185 miles south of Gander, at age 15 to chase his NHL dream, one that began with the Chicago Blackhawks and featured a Stanley Cup championship with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008. The 43-year-old is now Detroit's assistant director of player personnel.
"I can't imagine being a young kid in Harbour Grace and having an NHL game there," Cleary said. "I know this game will mean a lot to the city of Gander, which has a rich history of hockey. It'll mean a lot to the community and the kids there that get to experience it. Gander is a great hockey town."
Dawson Mercer can barely comprehend what it will mean to those lucky enough to watch an NHL game at Steele Community Centre. The New Jersey Devils forward grew up playing in most of the 50-plus ice rinks across the province, including Steele, which hosts several big minor hockey tournaments each year.
"I remember when I was a kid and couldn't wait to watch the game in my hometown, but the level of hockey is Junior B there," said Mercer, who played out of the Harbor Grace rink named after Cleary. "Still, you loved going up there watching the older guys play, so you can't imagine just what that feeling is like when you're going up to the rink, the same rink that you would be going up to every day, to go watch an NHL team play.
"That means a lot to not even just the kids, but the adults who have that passion for their children. It's kind of special and I'm happy to see it go there."

It should be a wild 48 hours of hockey here, beginning with a community celebration in Twillingate, which will feature multiple appearances by the Stanley Cup and a community celebration with food, games and appearances by retired players
Stephane Richer
of the Canadiens and
Chris Neil
of the Senators.
"It is always special when you have professional hockey players like this coming here," said Jared Butler, president of Hockey Newfoundland, which has a little more than 10,000 members. "The real message here is what the community did to rally around these kids. Congratulations to both franchises for helping to honor what these kids and this community have done."
The impact of the game will go far beyond this week. The renovations to George Hawkins Memorial Arena, originally an aircraft hangar in Gander before it was disassembled and reassembled in 1967 to give Twillingate its rink, are extensive. Repairs to the ice chiller and leaking roof, as well as other upgrades, are on the agenda.
Everyone, it seems, has a story about the iconic Twillingate arena.
Butler grew up in Grand Falls, one of towns closest to Gander, and played in Twillingate often. He said it is probably the second coldest rink in the province, laughing while he recalled a story about the water bottles freezing halfway through the first period and having to be replaced.
Darren Langdon
, a retired NHL player who went from Deer Lake to the New York Rangers to start an 11-season NHL career (1994-2006) with five teams, played at Hawkins in high school.
"There are a lot of cold rinks in Newfoundland," Langdon said from his home in Deer Lake. "But Twillingate is a great place."
Colorado Avalanche forward Alex Newhook has memories of playing in Twillingate and Gander. He likely thought of each rink while celebrating his Stanley Cup championship in June and on Aug. 22, when he had his day with the Cup in St. John's, 180 miles east of Gander.
"Twillingate, yeah. I've played in Twillingate a couple times when we traveled across province and everything; it's great," Newhook said. "[Hockeyville] will spread some awareness across the province, across [Canada]."
Hockeyville, which will include another game between the Senators and Canadiens in Bouctouoche, New Brunswick, on Saturday, and its celebrations will be watched by NHL players past and present who live in the province or who still have their hearts there.
"It's going to a beautiful couple of days," Cleary said. "I wish I could be there."
NHL.com staff writer Mike G. Morreale and independent correspondent Ryan Boulding contributed to this story