CanadianTrout
Hero Member
On Wed Quinn and Daddy went to the official "handing over" ceremony of the Memorial Cup from the Commissioner of the Canadian Hockey League to our Mayor Carl Zehr. Was a great event put on by the City of Kitchener (where I work) and I got a few pic's as well. First a little history....
The Memorial Cup was first conceived of and donated by the Canadian Hockey Association (the precursor to the Canadian Hockey League) in 1919 to honour the Canadian soldiers of The First Great War. Nearly 67,000 Canadians paid the ultimate price with another 150,000 wounded. The tournament was originally a two game total goal affair between the top Western team and the top Eastern team. It has since evolved into the major tournament it is today.
The days festivities started with a parade led by a military Highlands band, some Kitchener WW2 vets and of course a bunch of cadets bearing various Canadian military flags. Then the Cup arrived coming down King St to Kitchener City Hall on the back of a WW2 era personnel carrier complete with a rather large and intimidating looking .50cal on the front. There was also several flyby's over City Hall by a 1943 Haviland Trainer from WW2. The Memorial Cup has a military honour guard at all times.
There were a few speeches by the Commissioner of Hockey, the Mayor, the coach of the Kitchener Rangers and a WW2 vet. After the coach's speech he introduced the Rangers team who had just won the OHL league and the J. Ross Robertson trophy. Now all the championship teams from their various hockey leagues across Canada compete for the ultimate junior hockey prize: the Memorial Cup. The noise and applause was deafening and took quite some time to quiet down. Quinn started complaining her little hands hurt from all the clapping. LOL They were red, gotta love her enthusiasm!
A male choir sang WW1 and WW2 era songs for a bit and ended by singing one of the best tunes ever written. "The Hockey Song" by Stompin' Tom Connors. Which I believe is the Canadian second national anthem lol! At the end the Rangers came out into the crowd and signed autographs and met well-wishers. I got to shake hands with several of them and wished them well in the coming tourney. I must say these players are all 17-20 yrs old and a pretty big strapping lads with crushing grips. A good sign I'd say.
GO RANGERS GO!
Thanks for reading.
Here's some pic's:
The Memorial Cup was first conceived of and donated by the Canadian Hockey Association (the precursor to the Canadian Hockey League) in 1919 to honour the Canadian soldiers of The First Great War. Nearly 67,000 Canadians paid the ultimate price with another 150,000 wounded. The tournament was originally a two game total goal affair between the top Western team and the top Eastern team. It has since evolved into the major tournament it is today.
The days festivities started with a parade led by a military Highlands band, some Kitchener WW2 vets and of course a bunch of cadets bearing various Canadian military flags. Then the Cup arrived coming down King St to Kitchener City Hall on the back of a WW2 era personnel carrier complete with a rather large and intimidating looking .50cal on the front. There was also several flyby's over City Hall by a 1943 Haviland Trainer from WW2. The Memorial Cup has a military honour guard at all times.
There were a few speeches by the Commissioner of Hockey, the Mayor, the coach of the Kitchener Rangers and a WW2 vet. After the coach's speech he introduced the Rangers team who had just won the OHL league and the J. Ross Robertson trophy. Now all the championship teams from their various hockey leagues across Canada compete for the ultimate junior hockey prize: the Memorial Cup. The noise and applause was deafening and took quite some time to quiet down. Quinn started complaining her little hands hurt from all the clapping. LOL They were red, gotta love her enthusiasm!
A male choir sang WW1 and WW2 era songs for a bit and ended by singing one of the best tunes ever written. "The Hockey Song" by Stompin' Tom Connors. Which I believe is the Canadian second national anthem lol! At the end the Rangers came out into the crowd and signed autographs and met well-wishers. I got to shake hands with several of them and wished them well in the coming tourney. I must say these players are all 17-20 yrs old and a pretty big strapping lads with crushing grips. A good sign I'd say.
GO RANGERS GO!
Thanks for reading.
Here's some pic's:
