Big Day Tomorrow

HBIC will be closed today. I hope you don't mind. I know there has been a ton of hockey stuff happening - Claude Julien becoming the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, Michel Therrien cut loose for the second time, Gustav Nyquist's vicious high-stick on Jared Spurgeon - but there are even bigger things afoot here at the ol' blog. As you might be aware, the radio show is on the road tomorrow as we invade Kenora, Ontario as part of Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada! This is a huge opportunity for UMFM and The Hockey Show, so I'm closing up shop for the day in preparation of my journey east!

We'll discuss the topics above on the show tomorrow that will air live from the Kenora Recreation Centre, the 1900-seat facility that houses all the big hockey games in the Lake of the Woods region. We'll be on the air a little earlier than normal, but we'll be running an extra-long broadcast on the UMFM Second Stream all night long. Staring at 5pm, we'll be on the air talking all things hockey in Kenora, we'll have our normal show time from 5:30 to 6:30 on both the Second Stream and on UMFM's airwaves, and we'll stick around after the show to continue to talk hockey with a special guest as we lead up to the premiere broadcast of the NHL/Kenora hockey alumni game live from Kenora!

Honestly, this is one of the biggest things we've ever done on our show by a large margin, and I'm pretty sure it's a first for the radio station in having their presence at a major hockey event like the NHL alumni game. There are some people that I feel the need to thank before we get out there, so let me take a moment to do that.

First off, I cannot say thank you enough to Bruce Johnson and Kerri Holder who live in Kenora. Bruce is the man who organized the NHL/Kenora hockey alumni including getting a number of the players from the local community to unretire for one night and come back and play in the big game. Kerri is the lady who is coordinating all the media releases and put us in touch with the powers-that-be when it comes to the broadcasting rights. Without these two, I don't think adventure would have gotten off the ground, and I want to thank them immensely for giving us a shot at joining the fun tomorrow.

Secondly, I think a big thank you needs to go out to Rogers Sportsnet and, in particular, Joel Darling, Executive Producer of NHL Special Events for Rogers Sportsnet Hockey. Mr. Darling and I had a great conversation abut the event, and he graciously allowed us the opportunity to broadcast the game to the world. We are forever indebted to Mr. Darling for this opportunity as well, and we're going to give this broadcast a professional touch in every sense of the word.

In saying all this, I have some stuff to do tonight in getting ready for tomorrow's adventure, so HBIC is calling it a day today. Kenora, Ontario is the destination tomorrow, and HBIC and The Hockey Show are going to bring the fun we have to the celebration they are throwing as we join Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada for one evening!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!