Seven Nunavut communities to host Stanley Cup on spring tour

Fans gather in the Kuujjuaq airport to greet the Stanley Cup during its last trip North in March 2015. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

NHL all-star and alumnus Lanny McDonald and his famous moustache will be touring Nunavut with the Stanley Cup this spring. (WIKIPEDIA COMMONS IMAGE)

If the Stanley Cup takes a trip to Nunavut, where some of the most dedicated fans of the National Hockey League live, it would be hard to keep that trip a secret.

“I’m surprised how quickly word has gone around,” Sam Arreak said, laughing, April 14.

Arreak, the economic development officer for the Hamlet of Pond Inlet, went on local radio April 12 to announce the upcoming arrival of hockey’s holy grail to his Baffin community.

“For the hockey fans, I know they’re super excited. But the diehard fans of Canadian teams, which won’t be in this year’s playoffs, they might not be as happy,” Arreak joked.

The Stanley Cup’s trip is being organized by Project North — a non-profit organization whose focus is to improve the lives of kids in the North through literacy and recreation — and funded by Project North’s primary sponsors, Scotiabank and First Air.

A representative from Project North said April 14 that a news release on the trip hasn’t been issued yet, but the trip will begin in Edmonton on April 27 and visit seven Nunavut communities before May 1.

Those fortunate communities are: Igloolik, Iqaluit, Kugluktuk, Cambridge Bay, Resolute Bay, Arctic Bay and Pond Inlet.

“This is an epic journey, it’s never been done before,” Project North vice president Jeff Turner said April 14.

Last year around this time, the same group brought the Stanley Cup to Kuujjuaq and Iqaluit and the trip proved to be a huge hit for local hockey fans.

Scotiabank and First Air have partnered this year to provide the cup and an entourage of 35 people with a chartered flight for the trip, Turner said.

And NHL legend Lanny McDonald will be among the cup’s escort team, as will senior vice presidents from Scotiabank, First Air and new sponsor Canadian Tire.

A few years ago, Project North donated more than $25,000 in new hockey equipment to Pond Inlet kids, economic officer Arreak said.

The cup is scheduled to arrive in Pond Inlet on April 29, he said.

“When the cup comes, we’re going to start with a parade, with fire trucks and the RCMP, and we’ll go down to the beach area,” said Arreak.

Weather permitting, the hamlet will plough an ice road to a nearby ice berg where local hockey fans will have a chance to see and take pictures with the cup, Arreak said.

“Kids will be able to get right next to the cup, and, if they’re lucky, maybe even touch it,” Arreak said, although that will be up to two security guards who travel everywhere the cup travels to protect it.

With Pond Inlet’s postcard beautiful landscape as a backdrop, the event gives the hamlet a chance to promote tourism, Arreak said.

“It’s a beautiful place here after all — a lot of tourism potential and outfitting that tourists can really appreciate.”

In Arctic Bay, where the cup is expected to make an appearance April 29, kids and adults alike are already excited, said Clare Kines, Economic Development Officer.

“There’s lots of interest in hockey here in general. On Facebook you see all sorts of rivalries, little digs back and forth. Most people I’ve talked to about the event are excited and can’t wait,” Kines said April 14.

Kines said he has been in touch with the local school to make sure teachers are onboard.

“I wouldn’t be in school if I was 12 years old and this event was happening.”

Turner said Project North, which started seven years ago, has to date donated more than $700,000 worth of new hockey equipment to 22 communities in Nunavut and two communities in Labrador.

This year, Igloolik and Kugluktuk will receive 25 sets of new hockey equipment from Project North, said Turner.

And a team from telecom-giant Rogers Media will be in every community of the trip collecting footage that may eventually be used on Hockey Night in Canada, Turner said.

“Our primary sponsors, Scotiabank, who has been with us since our beginning, and First Air, deserve a lot of credit for making this epic trip happen,” said Turner.