Community comes together for Jr B Provincials.

The St. Paul Jr B Canadiens hosted the Alberta Hockey Provincials over the weekend and although they were not successful on the ice; they were successful in bringing the whole community together for the four days. Member of the organizing committee and Jr B Canadiens’ board, John Davies says he was blown away by the community support.

“The community involvement was amazing,” Davies says he wasn’t expecting such a huge showing of support, “we couldn’t believe how many people stepped up to volunteer. We needed roughly between 90-100 volunteers, I think we ended up with over 130 with many still offering to volunteer.” It wasn’t just community members stepping up to help out, it was the business community, as well, “I had businesses calling me to see if we needed anything else.”

“This community stepped up in a very big way. They were amazing. This community, the fans, the businesses have been behind the Canadiens, not only all season, but in the dark days of the team when we were only winning a few games a season. You would think we were a championship team back then, by the way they supported us even then.” Davies says the Canadiens are part of the heart of St. Paul and the town really showed their love this past weekend.

Deputy Mayor for the Town of St. Paul, Norm Noel, says the committee really shone with the St. Paul spirit, “they did a lot of hard work, hats off to them; we’re very proud of them!” The tournament gave the community a reason to come together and really showcase the town, “it brought out a lot of community spirit, a lot of volunteerism and a lot of economic spin-off for our community.”

The provincial committee further spread the love of sports by making a $5,000 donation to Jumpstart. The money came from the proceeds of the tournament. Davies says there was even more giving, “the donation is being matched by Canadian Tire locally. All of that $10,000 dollars stays to help kids in sports in the community.” Jumpstart is a program that assists with the costs associated with getting kids involved in sports.

Davies says it’s thanks to all the volunteers and fans that made the event such a success, “I would like to thank all the players, coaches, parents, fans, volunteers, and businesses. Everyone that has supported this team through the good and the bad; they are the reason this team is still here.”