A pair of National Women’s Team members were front and centre at Rexall Place in Edmonton on Thursday as the Olympic torch made an appearance in the Alberta capital.

Goaltender Shannon Szabados, an Edmonton native, and defenceman Meaghan Mikkelson, from nearby St. Albert, joined the Olympic flame on the ice for a ceremony prior to the NHL game between the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Also joining Szabados and Mikkelson were past and future Olympians Jamie Sale (figure skating), Catriona Le May Doan (speed skating), Kevin Martin (curling), Deidre Dionne (freestyle skiing) and Bill Dawe and Don Gauf, members of the 1952 gold medal-winning Edmonton Mercurys.

Thursday’s stop was Day 77 of a 106-day journey across Canada for the Olympic torch. The torch will light the cauldron in Vancouver to officially open the 2010 Olympic Winter Games as part of the Opening Ceremonies on Feb. 12.

Photo courtesy of Dylan Lynch/Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club