Leafs returning to Niagara
Fans can watch training sessions, scrimmages at the Gale Centre
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati has promised the negative ions of the falls will have a positive impact on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The National Hockey League team last year held a development camp for its young prospects at the Gale Centre.
After hearing that the team was “thrilled” with the facility and staff as well as everything Niagara had to offer, Diodati was determined to have the Leafs return this year.
“When they were here, I was talking with head coach Mike Babcock and I told him Niagara Falls has the highest concentration of negative ions in the planet,” Diodati said Thursday.
Negative ions are created in nature when air molecules are broken apart from sunlight, radiation and moving air or water. Energy produced in moving water releases a mass of negative ions that are said to be beneficial to physical and emotional wellbeing.
The negative ions, Diodati promised Babcock, would give his players an extra “kick in their step when they play this year.”
“I told him, ‘I guarantee you a Stanley Cup.’”
Whether Babcock took Diodati’s guarantee to heart is unknown, but the Leafs announced this week they are returning to Niagara Falls.
The team announced on its website it will be in Niagara for a three-day weekend — Sept. 14 to 17 — at the start of their 2017-18 season.
Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said the move south on the Queen Elizabeth Way follows two successful training camps in Halifax.
“We’re excited to open this upcoming season in Niagara Falls,” the NHL Hall of Famer said. “We’re continually looking to take our camps to different places to provide memorable experiences for both our fans and players.”
Training sessions will be held at Gale Centre, where fans will get the chance to watch practices and scrimmages.
“There are so many rabid Leafs fans in Niagara Falls,” Diodati said. “It’s going to be an exciting mix of talent and appreciative fans.”
An alumni game featuring current and past Leafs will also highlight the team’s visit to Niagara.
The Maple Leafs hockey development staff will be conducting clinics with select minor hockey groups as part of the team’s community outreach program.
Full details, including the camp’s schedule and how fans can become involved, will be released in the coming weeks, the team said on its website.