The local Brockie.org 99ers Atom ‘AA’ hockey team returned home from Des Moines, Iowa on Sunday with many memories of a weekend full of experiences they will never forget thanks to the Iowa Stars of the AHL.
When Stars’ head coach Dave Allison heard that hockey teams from his home town of Fort Frances were heading to Des Moines for a tournament, he made a tremendous effort to make this a weekend they would never forget.
Allison, the Iowa Stars Hockey Organization, and Penny Knapp put in long hours—and made many phone calls—to plan events and definitely succeeded in making our local 99ers feel like “Stars” on ice.
On Saturday evening, the boys arrived at the Wells Fargo Arena with excitement as they were brought in via the V.I.P. entrance and taken down to the change rooms to unload their hockey gear.
Allison then gave them a personal tour of the Iowa Stars’ dressing room, training facility, and equipment room. The boys were in awe.
The Iowa Stars Hockey Organization met with our players briefly and gave them each a game stick.
Our boys then were invited to sit on the Stars’ bench during the warm-ups and experience what it was like to sit on the bench in an AHL arena and have the opportunity to meet some of the players.
Allison highlighted our 99ers, as well as our local Taggs Source for Sports Bantam ‘AA’ squad, during the first intermission as they participated in a shootout competition with the Russell Stover Stars hockey team from Kansas City.
Our local boys were able to show off their tremendous Canadian hockey skills, as well experience skating in the AHL arena.
During the second intermission, our boys were asked to help retrieve the pucks off the ice that were thrown in the chuck-a-puck contest.
The following morning, Allison made a special appearance at our 99ers hockey game and addressed the boys in the change room after their game to congratulate them on their win.
He also let them know how proud he was to be able to “show off” the hockey talent that comes from his home town of Fort Frances.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
