century tour big rig

Century Tour comes to a close

But the legacy of the cross-country caravan’s year-long trek will live on

Wendy Graves
|
June 3, 2015
|

The Hockey Canada Century Tour hit the road on July 1, 2014, in Ottawa, Ont., and hosted its last guest on May 31, 2015, in Sylvan Lake, Alta.

It headed as far east as St. John’s, N.L., and as far west as Richmond, B.C., stopping in cities as small as Digby, N.S. (population: just over 2,000) and as large as Toronto (population: just under 2.8 million) along the way.

After the last kilometre driven the Century Tour’s 267-day cross-country road trip had stopped in 56 communities, sharing 100 years of Hockey Canada history with more than 150,000 visitors.

“Our goals were to promote the game in Canada, to educate Canadians, to leave a legacy once the tour was over and ultimately to leave the game a little healthier then it was when we started,” says Dean McIntosh, senior director of events and properties for Hockey Canada.

The Century Tour was the focal point of Hockey Canada’s year-long 100th anniversary celebrations. Its two transport trailers travelled 42,000 kilometers in 11 months. The tour’s sheer reach was its greatest success, says McIntosh. “The number of communities we existed in, the number of towns we were able to visit, the value we were able to give to those communities by recognizing volunteers, having them have a chance to connect with the Hockey Canada Canadian heritage.”

Considering how committed hockey players – not to mention hockey parents – are to getting to their games, it came as no surprise that neither heat (a tour-high 39°C in Calgary, Alta.) nor cold (a frigid -52°C in Quebec City, Que.) dampened fans’ enthusiasm for reliving some of Canada’s greatest hockey moments and memories.

“You hear things about people crying when they first walk in to the truck and they see something,” says McIntosh. “It may be memorable for them personally or the connection to hockey may be something they feel really emotional about.”

For the tour’s organizers, seeing people actively participate – whether playing ball hockey on the inflatable rink, designing a mini-stick or skating on the synthetic ice – was a big highlight.

“There was a family from South America in Calgary for the Stampede who said they never thought their kids would have on a pair of skate and here they are skating in the middle of summer in Calgary,” says McIntosh. “Things like that are really unique experiences that we had through the year.”

While the tour itself is now over the contents inside the caravan will continue to be displayed at a just-opened Canadian Tire in Edmonton, Alta. Nearly 700 square feet will serve as a showcase of heritage jerseys, as well as house tablets that allow users to create their own avatars and design their own virtual jerseys.

“Since we don’t have a storefront it’s pretty neat to have a partnership like that that continues the programming after the 100 years is over,” says McIntosh.

Throughout the past year, 100 volunteers in the communities the Century Tour stopped in were recognized for their contributions to the game. All honourees were presented with a 100th anniversary jersey in addition to having their names engraved on the trophy.

Talk of how to celebrate Hockey Canada’s 100th anniversary – which would eventually also include a special jersey, commemorative sticker for all minor hockey associations, a gala and a schools program – began around the same time that Bauer first started talking about The First Shift, its program for new-to-hockey families.

The program proved to be a perfect fit with Hockey Canada’s plans.

“We delivered a number of First Shift programs in the same communities that the tour was in and now there’s a legacy of players playing in those communities that didn’t play before,” says McIntosh. “Connecting programs like that together with the Century Tour gave us a lot more value in the communities that we went in to.”

The most lasting impression, however, may have been increasing Canadians’ knowledge of Hockey Canada and what it does. Thanks to the wonders of the web, more than 400 million impressions on the Century Tour – and all things 100th anniversary related – were made last year.

“Whether it was the Hockey Canada brand, or whether it was what the game of hockey is all about, how to get involved, where to register,” says McIntosh, “all of that information was available and that’s a significant legacy of the tour.”

For more information:

Esther Madziya
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 284-6484 

[email protected] 

Spencer Sharkey
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 777-4567

[email protected]

Jeremy Knight
Manager, Corporate Communications
Hockey Canada

(647) 251-9738

[email protected]

Recent News
Most Popular
Videos
Photos
HCC: One For All in Yellowknife
One For All celebrated women’s hockey with more than 300 participants.
2024 NWT Rivalry Series: CAN 6 – USA 1 (Game 7)
Spooner and Maltais scored twice to lead Canada to win the series.
2023-24 NWT: CAN 3 – USA 0 (Game 6)
Maschmeyer made 27 saves for the shutout to tie the Rivalry Series.
2023-24 NWT: CAN 4 – USA 2 (Game 5)
Bell, Fast and Stacey scored late to help Canada stay alive.
Schedule