A showdown between Cochrane’s Finest and Bravest is hitting the ice at the SLS Centre this coming Monday, for a friendly charity hockey game on Family Day.
The puck drops at 1 p.m. at Totem One in the SLS Centre. Admission is completely free, but attendees are asked to bring a donation for the Cochrane Foundation, which will be this year’s charity of choice.
President of the Cochrane Firefighters association, Chris Chyka, said this match will be a throwback to what the local first responders would do on Family, prior to the pandemic.
“We’re trying to resurrect it, and that’s the plan this year, is to get the game back up and going,” Chyka said, “We picked a charity, and we’re raising some money, and it’ll be a friendly match between us and the RCMP.”
With in-house members on both sides, Chyka said he’s looking forward to a good match against their fellow counterparts.
“Although we play against each other every week, we get together and play together anyways,” Chyka said. “So, it should be a fairly spirited match.”
Chyka hopes there will be a good turnout for Monday’s match. In addition to the match, Chyka said there will be a silent auction, several prizes to be won, including a shootout that is planned to take place between the second and third period, a special visit by some mascots, and a few more pieces that will be finalized on game day.
Overall, Chyka said this has been a long time coming, and he is happy to work alongside the RCMP to bring the community together.
“Hockey being such an important piece of Canadian fabric, this is a great way to garner support,” Chyka said. “It’s just a different way to see the RCMP, Fire, and different organizations within the town interact with each other, and this is just one of those ways to show you have a strong partnership.”
In in terms of the match itself, Chyka they’re ready to take on the RCMP on Monday afternoon.
“They’ve already called us out for potentially stacking our team, but their poor skill level has nothing to do with our highly skilled players that are going to lay a beating on them,” he said.
Chyka said he would like to give a special thank you for all sponsors and donors to the cause. He would also like direct people who are interested in donating to the Cochrane Foundation to visit www.cochranefoundation.ca.
“So if people are interested, please head over to that website, and if you feel like donating, that’s great,” Chyka said. “If not, we’ll see you at the game on Monday.”
