The members of the Montreal Canadiens Alumni Tour might not register any helpers in the NHL anymore, but that hasn’t stopped them from picking up assists, as the Habs’ alumni aided Yorkton’s Big Brother Big Sisters (BBBS) in raising over 10-thousand dollars this past Thursday during the Big Brothers Big Sisters Hockey Classic charity hockey game at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
“It’s terrific that they take time out of their lives to come to places like Yorkton and do this,” said BBBS Executive Director Irma Van De Bon-Nicol. “We researched the team and just felt that it was a really good thing to bring to Yorkton to help us at Big Brothers Big Sisters to recruit big brothers and big sisters and be more visible in the community and raise some money for our charity, but we didn’t expect it to be as successful as it was.”
But while Van De Bon-Nicol feels that it’s terrific that former members of the Montreal Canadiens take time out of their schedules to partake in events such as this, Canadien legend Guy Lafleur said that it’s the least they could do. “A lot of times they don’t expect us to come there because they are small towns, but for us it’s something that we love to do because most of the guys come from small towns and know what it means to have something like this in the community,” said Lafleur, who has been involved with the Montreal Canadiens Alumni Tour from 1985-88 and once again from 1991 to 2010 as a player before taking the coaching role in 2011. “Last year we played over 50 games across Canada and we raised over 1.5 million for different charities, so for us it’s a great thrill to be able to do that.
“We give something back to society and we have a chance to meet the fans that follow our career and the youngsters that didn’t get to see us play.”
And although the Habs players were the main draw, Van De Bon-Nicol said that it wasn’t just the Canadiens that made the event so successful as she felt that the people and community of Yorkton also played a big role in making the night memorable for all involved. “The community support was terrific and much appreciated and it went better than I could have ever anticipated,” offered Van De Bon-Nicol. “They helped us put on a truly terrific hockey classic from all of the sponsorship that we got. From the meal before the game to accommodations for the Montreal Canadiens and the VIP party at Boston Pizza.
“We had community volunteers and community support the entire time and that made it a truly terrific event. We couldn’t have done it without the community.”
