Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour to make stop in Esquimalt

It’s a milestones theme for Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour next season and Esquimalt will be anchoring the show.

The weekly show hits the road for its fifth coast-to-coast season in October and Thursday the Sportsnet broadcast tour announced its first five stops and most important ones.

CFB Esquimalt on Feb. 16-17 will be the last of five “Milestone” visits next season. The other key stops are Kitchener, Ont., Oct. 5-7 (50th anniversary of KitchenerWaterloo Oktoberfest), London, Ont., Oct. 20-21 (Rogers Hometown Hockey’s 100th episode), Glace Bay, N.S., Oct. 27-28 (50th anniversary of Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) and Mississauga, Ont., Dec. 22-23 (fifth annual holiday broadcast). The other 20 stops will be announced at a later date.

For the Esquimalt stop, the tour will visit the military base for a special “Support Our Troops” broadcast.

“Beginning with celebrating milestones in these five communities, we have the privilege of a fifth season of uncovering the great hockey tales of our past, celebrating the hockey victories of our present and meeting hockey stars of our future,” said CBC/Sportsnet host Ron MacLean, who co-hosts Rogers Hometown Hockey with Tara Slone.

The weekend stops celebrate hockey’s heritage through family-friendly activities, storytelling, guest appearances and musical acts. The free festival concludes every Sunday with an outdoor viewing party of the Sportsnet broadcast of an NHL game.