Marlies bringing roadshow to Thorold
The defending Calder Cup champions will take their pre-season show on the road with an exhibition game in Thorold.
The Marlies, the Toronto Maple Leafs AHL farm team, will play the Rochester Americans, Buffalo’s AHL affiliate, at Thorold Arena Saturday, Sept. 29, with a 4 p.m. faceoff.
“Our new focus in Thorold is holding events the community can get behind,” said Curtis Dray, Thorold’s manager of community services. “This is one of them.”
Fans can purchase the $35 tickets on the City of Thorold website. The tickets are a two-for-one deal. They will get you into Thorold Arena for the game against Rochester and the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto on Oct. 20 for a game against the Hartford Wolfpack, the New York Rangers affiliate, when the Marlies host Thorold Community Night.
The City of Thorold and the Marlies will also team up Sept. 29 for a pre-game hockey festival in the Thorold Arena parking lot with inflatables and other familyfriendly activities as well as food trucks.
Marc Lira, the director of business operations for the Marlies, said partnering with Thorold makes sense for the organization. He said the city has a rich hockey history and is the hometown of players such as former Leaf Owen Nolan — he also played for the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames and Minnesota Wild. It is also home to up-and-comer Conor Timmins, a second-round draft choice of the Avalanche in 2017 who starred for Team
Canada at the World Junior Championship.
“An event like this is what we are all about,” Lira said. “It is about being in the community and providing a platform for our players to perform in front of fans that might not normally get to see them.
“We want our players to be accessible. It provides young kids a chance to look up to professional athletes and to dream.”
The Marlies are a minor league team, but the AHL’s on-ice product is second to none, just one rung below the NHL. Hockey fans get a lot of bang for their buck.
“The skill level in an AHL hockey game is tremendous,” Lira said. “The fans who follow the Marlies know how good it is. We had 15 players last year that played for the Maple Leafs and developed in the American Hockey League with the Marlies.”