CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has announced that Grant Fagerheim has been elected chair of the Hockey Canada Foundation.

Fagerheim, a native of Estevan, Sask., was first elected to the Hockey Canada Foundation’s board of directors in 2007, serving as vice-chair in 20. He will serve as chair for the 20 calendar years.

Fagerheim is passionate about his professional and personal pursuits, including the importance of combining academics and athletics. He is past chair of the Edge School for Athletes and partial owner of the National Sports Development Centre, both in Calgary.

He graduated from the University of Calgary in 1982, and has since risen up the ranks of Alberta’s oil and gas industry, to his current position as chair, president and CEO of Whitecap Resources Inc. He served in the same position for three other companies he founded, Ketch Energy Ltd., Ketch Resources Ltd., and Cadence Energy Inc., and sits on the board of three international-based companies, Iskander Energy Ltd., PRD Energy Inc., and Sintanna Energy Ltd. Fagherheim holds an executive MBA and lives in Calgary with his wife Penny and their two sons, Brandon and Brett.

“I am pleased to work alongside such a quality group of people, from my fellow board members on the Hockey Canada Foundation to the volunteers across the country who give so much time and effort to developing our great game,” Fagerheim said. “The objectives of the foundation include finding means and ways to ensure that each and every child in Canada has the chance to experience playing hockey.”

Also elected to the Hockey Canada Foundation board are vice-chair Jim Treliving, secretary Barry Lorenzetti, treasurer Allan Matthews, special advisor Brian Cooper, past-chair Tom Bitove and directors Mark Chipman, Doug Goss, Lois Mitchell, Dan O’Neill and Ryan Walter. South of the border, the Hockey Canada Foundation’s newest U.S. board members are chair Chris Bezaire, vice-chair Mike Humes, secretary Paul Delparte, treasurer Dave Andrews, past-chairman Bill Ackerman and director Bill Comrie.

“We are thrilled to have Grant take the helm of the Hockey Canada Foundation,” HCF executive director Chris Bright said. “He and the other sixteen individuals elected to our Canadian and American boards will provide great leadership that will help both the foundation, and the sport of hockey itself, continue to grow and prosper in the future.”

The Hockey Canada Foundation provides a source of secure and sustainable funding to support Hockey Canada’s development and delivery of amateur hockey programs across the country. The foundation’s volunteer leadership reflects the organization’s national reach and includes board members with both refined business experience and a strong commitment to the non-profit sector, including the Canadian hockey community as a whole.

For more information on the Hockey Canada Foundation, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/HCF.