Lace up! Hockey reigns supreme later this week across Greater Victoria.
Numerous events are planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Western Canada Hockey League’s Victoria Cougars winning hockey’s greatest trophy.
The milestone celebration of the Cougars’ win over the NHL’s Montreal Canadians begins with at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Bard & Banker on Government Street, where you can listen to stories from the rink from NHL alumni Brian Burke, Greg Adams and Archie Henderson.
Three song-writing finalists, selected from 31 entries to a contest about the 1925 Cup win, will perform at 7:30 p.m. at the same location.
Festivities continue with family friendly events this weekend, including the highly anticipated return of the Stanley Cup for public viewing 1 p.m to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Oak Bay Rec Centre.
Festivities wrap Sunday night at 7 p.m. with another discussion involving NHL alumni -- this time at the Penny Farthing on Oak Bay Avenue.
Century Celebration festivities will centre around the old location of Patrick Arena - a former stadium on the corner of Cadboro Bay Rd. and Epworth Street - where the 1925 Cougars clinched the cup championship.
There is no parking onsite for this event.
A park-and-ride shuttle, courtesy of Wilson’s Transportation, will run every 30 minutes between Oak Bay Marina and the festival site from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
An online auction, running March 24-31, will help raise funds for the Courtnall Society for Mental Health.
For the latest on events and activities happening for the Century Celebration, go to vhls.ca
Last Thursday, March 20, the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame officially designated Greater Victoria a sports heritage community, joining Kamloops as the only other provincial community bestowed the title.