The stars of Slapshot are coming to Jasper.
Jeff Carlson, Steve Carlson and David Hanson will join a handful of Edmonton Oilers alumni for the Saturday night celebrity game at the 2018 Challenge in the Rockies on March 31 in Hinton.
But first, they’ll be signing autographs at the Jasper Activity Centre on March 30 at about 3:30 p.m. according to Hinton Ice, and at the Jasper Brewpub at 5 p.m. They’ll be joined by another alumni player to be announced.
Last year’s game included two-time Stanley Cup-winner Dave Semenko in what was one of his last public appearances before he passed away in June. As a result, this year’s event and celebrity game will be a tribute to Semenko.
“He was such a popular guy because he was one of those guys on the teams in the early 1980s for the Oilers that held the team together in the growing stages,” said Global Edmonton sports anchor Kevin Karius, who will lace them up too. “It was a different game back then and the Oilers had a lot of guys where he made sure [the other team] stayed in line.”
Oilers alumni Dave Lumley, Jason Strudwick and Chris Joseph will all also be playing in the celebrity game.
This year’s tournament includes 39 teams split across six divisions, as the Mini-Chiefs, novice, atom, peewee and midget teams will be joined by the return of the Young Guns division made up of AAA and AA spring hockey teams.
New this year is a teddy bear toss during the intermission sponsored by The Brick.
Participants will have a chance to throw their bears at prizes dotted around the ice, including an autographed Oilers 2018 team jersey, an Oil Kings autographed team jersey and an autographed Grant Fuhr jersey.
Proceeds from the toss will go to the Children’s Miracle Network and the Stollery Children’s Hospital. Teddy bears from the event will go to the Yellowhead Emergency Shelter.
The celebrity game is March 31 at the Bill Thomson Arena and tickets are on sale now at King Drug in Hinton.
