Benn glad ‘Hockey Day in Canada’ to spotlight Victoria, British Columbia

PHILADELPHIA -- Jamie Benn will be focused on helping his Dallas Stars in their game at the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, but the forward also will be keeping an eye on the happenings on the other side of the continent.

Benn's hometown of Victoria, British Columbia, will be the host city for Sportsnet's annual "Hockey Day in Canada" broadcast, which celebrates the game at a grassroots level.

"It's pretty cool," Benn said. "We get to show off what's great about our city. It was a wonderful place to grow up and play hockey, and I'm just glad Canada is going to be able to see how beautiful it is."

Sportsnet will broadcast from a studio built at Ship Point at Victoria Harbor, and the day will include all seven Canada-based NHL teams playing, plus features highlighting some of the best parts of Victoria. The Winnipeg Jets visit the Ottawa Senators (3 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN), the Montreal Canadiens play at the Boston Bruins (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, NESN, CITY, TVAS, CBC), the Toronto Maple Leafs travel to face the Vancouver Canucks (7 p.m. ET; SN), and the Edmonton Oilers will be at the Calgary Flames (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY, TVAS2).

Benn, 34, and his brother, former NHL defenseman Jordie Benn, 36, grew up playing for Peninsula Minor Hockey Association in the city.

"The big part of the island was hockey and it had some good players to look up to,” Jamie Benn said. “The Courtnall brothers (Russ and Geoff), we had Matt Pettinger, Ryan O'Byrne at the time, a couple guys overseas. Now we're fortunate, we've had more than a few roll through the NHL since then, and I think those guys paved the way for us.

"Growing up playing hockey there, it was awesome. Small-town hockey vibes, you kind of stay within your districts and on the island."

Defenseman Tyson Barrie of the Nashville Predators also hails from Victoria.

Jamie Benn said the rivalries between teams on the island would get passionate because of how often the same teams would skate against each other, but the real fun would come when they would make the three-hour trip across the bay to play teams in Vancouver.

"There's usually certain kids on certain teams that always got talked about and we were kind of the underdogs, which we were totally fine with," he said. "We had a lot of fun going to Vancouver and up and down British Columbia playing different teams and showing them how good we were."

Jamie Benn stayed in Victoria showing everyone how good he was through 2006-07, before leaving Victoria of the British Columbia Hockey League to play junior hockey with Kelowna of the Western Hockey League for two seasons prior to joining Dallas.

Now in his 15th NHL season, he is second to Mike Modano in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history in games played (1,073), goals (370) and points (874), and third in assists (504) behind Modano and Neal Broten. He's also in his 11th season as Dallas captain. The Stars selected Benn in the fifth round (No. 129) of the 2007 NHL Draft.

Jamie and Jordie were Stars teammates for six seasons (2011-17) after Jordie signed with Dallas as an undrafted free agent July 1, 2011. Jordie also played for the Canadiens, Canucks, Jets, Minnesota Wild and Maple Leafs, and is playing this season with Brynas in Allsvenskan, the second division of pro hockey in Sweden.

Jamie understands that young hockey players in Victoria look up to him and his brother the same way they looked up to the Courtnall brothers. But he's also a bit jealous of what those kids have now that wasn't available for him and Jordie.

"I think everything's changed quite a bit," he said. "There's hockey in schools now and all these programs. A little different than what we had growing up. I think it's definitely a step in the right direction. Kids are still having fun and producing."

He's excited that all the things he remembers about Victoria, as well as all the fun additions, will be showcased for the "Hockey Day in Canada" national audience.

Actually, the spotlight has been shining on the island most of this week. The Stanley Cup is in town. There are hockey clinics for youth players and officials across several days. There is a gala dinner as well as an alumni game, featuring many of the alumni born on the island as well as those that have settled there. On Saturday, there is an all-day festival by the harbor with skating, ball hockey and alumni appearances.

"I think it's a pretty big deal for Victoria to get this," Benn said. "We're happy to show Canada what we've got and show people where we've come from."