Hometown Hockey hosts ready for Falls
Ron MacLean will always have special memories of Niagara.
Before he became the famous sportscaster for CBC, and best known as the host of Hockey Night in Canada, MacLean would referee games in small towns, including at the former Stamford Arena in Niagara Falls.
“One of the coldest rinks in hockey,” he said.
“I also did the Fort Erie Meteors, and can remember some of my craziest moments. There was a guy that sang the anthem at the Port Colborne games, and I used to see Owen Nolan’s father at the Blackhawks games in Thorold.”
MacLean will be back in town this weekend as Rogers Hometown Hockey makes its first stop of the season in Niagara Falls on Saturday and Sunday.
The weekend will feature broadcast hosts MacLean and Tara Slone, meet-and-greet opportunities with former Toronto Maple Leafs player Rick Vaive, and a special performance from multi-platinum-selling Canadian country star Tim Hicks.
The free, two-day hockey festival begins at noon Saturday overlooking the falls at Niagara Parks’ Queen Victoria Park, and concludes on Sunday evening following an outdoor viewing party of a National Hockey League game.
“It’s a really complicated show because we have elements that are musical, we have guests, we have a live crowd, and we have a game,” said MacLean.
“That’s probably the hardest juggling act, is to balance the NHL telecast with the community story that we’re telling.”
He described Hometown Hockey as taking viewers on a “magic carpet ride around Canada.”
MacLean said he will always remember what really got him into hockey.
“Dad was Air Force and we were stationed in Whitehorse, Yukon, and Bobby Hull came to visit, and he was incredible. That was my first-hand connection to the game. Otherwise, my experience with the NHL was second-hand experience. I watched it on TV. But when Bobby came to Whitehorse and sat with us and signed … to Ronny, Bobby Hull. It’s like, are you kidding, so I will never forget that.”
Slone said she and MacLean look forward to telling the stories “that don’t get told on national hockey broadcasts.”
“The whole experience is just so heartwarming. We meet incredible people and the communities are so welcoming,” she said.
“We’re able to touch on subject matters that aren’t addressed so much, like to talk to guys like Derek Sanderson about what it’s like to hit rock bottom and come out the other side. It’s not something that gets addressed to the same extent on typical hockey broadcasts.”
Slone said there will be a “great feature” on Alex Luey, a local 13-yearold hockey player who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma last fall.
Through every step of his journey, from diagnosis to rotationplasty surgery, the hockey community has rallied around Luey and his family.
That support has helped Luey brave adversity and now, a year later, he’s ready to take to the ice again with a little help from the Niagara Falls Flyers Minor Bantam As.
“We meet these kids especially who have been through such adversity, and I’m consistently floored by their positive mental attitude, and also the support of the community,” said Slone.
She said she’s going to hang out and chat with Marcel Dionne, one of the greatest ever NHL players, on Saturday morning, checking out his restaurant and memorabilia shop in Niagara Falls.
“We’ll spend lots of time wandering around. We send a camera out just to capture wherever we possibly can.”
The broadcast will also show Slone as she enjoys some of the attractions in Niagara Falls.
“We’re able to visually convey our location, and there’s no shortage of gorgeous and monumental shots there,” she said.
“We already took a trip a couple of weeks ago down there, so I did the trip behind the falls, I went on the Hornblower, I went on a helicopter above the falls, so it’s been pretty immersive. Having spent almost all of my adult life in Toronto, that was my first time getting up close and personal, so it just never ceases to amaze.”
The evening broadcast on Sunday will kick off with a special pre-game show hosted live on site by MacLean and Slone from the Sportsnet mobile studio beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet Now followed by a showdown between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers.
The hockey-themed weekend will feature games, prize giveaways, activities, and live local entertainment.
Many local hockey organizations will be involved in the event in one way or another.
During the broadcast, special guests will include Sanderson and Frank Pietrangelo.
Born and raised in Niagara Falls, Sanderson was a tough and talented centreman with the Boston Bruins, winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, and two Stanley Cups.
He moved on to the World Hockey Association to become the highestpaid athlete in the world, before falling on hard times.
With the help of his friend, Bobby Orr, Sanderson turned his life around to become a financial advisor and family man.
Sanderson was also a star with the junior A Niagara Falls Flyers.
Pietrangelo is also a Niagara Falls native, and a Stanley Cup champion. The owner and head coach of the junior B Niagara Falls Canucks won the Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991.
Vaive, best remembered as the first 50-goal scorer in Leafs franchise history, said he looks forward to meeting people and taking part in weekend activities.
“I love meeting the kids and the parents and signing autographs,” he said. “That’s the fun part for me.”
Vaive, who has lived in Niagara Falls for the past four years, said he will also be on the hotstove stage with Slone.
He said it’s important for Canadians and hockey fans to understand where some of their favourite players have come from.
“I think Rogers Hometown Hockey does that, It delves into that. I think it’s very important that the people watching the NHL learn a little bit about where the players are from, and how they got started, and about the town they’re from. There’s a lot of good stories out there of players that persevered, went through some bad times, and were able to get out of it, and make it.”
The hockey tour will roll into 24 communities across Canada this season.