The Toronto Maple Leafs stopped by Barrie on their Winter Week tour and brought the fun with them.
The second annual event sees the Leafs organization bring alumni, games and activities to towns outside of Toronto through the course of a week. Between stops in Guelph and Huntsville, it was Barrie’s turn to check out the festivities and the popular spot was the Centennial Park rink where most things were happening.
Mike Ferriman is the Director of Hockey Events and Alumni Relations for the Leafs and was on-hand to make sure everything went according to plan and everyone had fun.
“We looked into this a few months ago and this particular spot because we wanted a picturesque area and to get out of the busy part of town more or less,” said Ferriman. “After meeting with the city and really seeing how beautiful this area was it was a no-brainer to do it here by the lake. We’ve got Tomas Kaberle in town, Christian Hanson and his father Dave who was one of the Hanson Brothers in Slapshot, Shayne Corson and a whole host of other alumni who were more than happy to come out. It’s been a great day and everyone has been having fun.
Kaberle was signing autographs at Georgian Mall while tonight many of the former Leafs greats will head to the Lockeroom at 201 Cundles Road East to not only hand out giveaways for trivia, but also watch the current batch of Leafs players take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Another Leafs Alumni on-hand today was Peter Ing who was posing for pictures with Leafs fans down on Centennial Beach. The former Leafs player was not only happy to be out with fans, but happy to be home.
“It’s a great thing to interact with the fans and be around the town that I grew up in,” said Ing. “I grew up in Barrie so to be around the water with an ice festival happening and seeing the fishing derby going on really brings back some great memories. It’s also really fantastic to see the fans and I’ve even run into some coaches from my minor hockey years; it’s such a wonderful feeling and I enjoy every minute of it.”
