Hockey Day in Canada Starts Today

The annual Hockey Day in Canada, which celebrates this country's favourite past time, starts today in Halifax.

Today's events include the opening ceremonies and a shinny game that will be held at the Halifax Forum. The opening ceremonies will start at 6pm followed by the shinny game that will pit Team Ron MacLean versus Team Wendel Clark. NHL alumni and other VIP's will be lacing up there skates for this free of charge event.

While the actual Day isn't until Saturday, the city decided to have 4 days of events held at different places around Halifax. Tomorrow morning, fans will be able to skate with the Stanley Cup on the Emera Oval from 7-9am. Thursday night will be the Stolen from a Hockey Card concert at Spatz Theatre (in Citadel High School). Singers include Buck 65 and Theo Fleury. Tickets to the concert are $35 plus tax. Friday will be the celebrity luncheon hosted by Halifax's Chamber of Commerce. There's a big lineup of hockey players scheduled to be in attendance plus personalities like Don Cherry and Ron MacLean. The Halifax Mooseheads will take on the Shawinigan Cataractes on Friday evening, in a game that will be broadcast across Canada so puck drop has been moved to 8pm.

Saturday will be a full day of events held at the Emera Oval. NHL games during the day will be showing on LED screens. There will also be snow sculptors, the Stanley Cup, free food and Ron MacLean will be hosting the event. Hockey Nova Scotia clinics will be going on from 1-2:30pm and 5:30-7pm, a shinny tournament will be playing 10am-noon plus a public skate from 3:30-4:30pm. A Valentine's Day Jersey skate will be from 7-9pm. All the day's events are free of charge. Sportnet will again be broadcasting a Moose game on this night at 8pm. It will be a battle of Nova Scotia as the Scotiabank Centre hosts the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

Halifax to host HNIC

Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada is coming to Halifax!

Each year, the Canadian National Hockey League teams celebrate the great game of hockey with CBC's Hockey Night in Canada crew in one special town or city and on February 14, 2015 it is happening in Halifax. The 2015 version will be the 15th of its kind but second time that it will be held in Nova Scotia after Windsor hosted the third annual event in 2002.

The announcement of the event was made last week, two days after the NHL awards were handed out and Nova Scotian native Sidney Crosby won three awards and former Mooseheads player Nathan MacKinnon, and fellow Cole Harbour native, won the Calder Trophy. There will be 13 hours of broadcasting from the city which will include five games on CBC.

“Halifax has a tremendous hockey history, and is a vibrant Canadian community – a perfect combination for hosting Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada,” said Joel Darling, Executive Producer, NHL Special Events, Rogers. “This region has a strong tradition of supporting all facets of hockey – from grassroots, to junior hockey, to the NHL."

Coincidentally, there will be a game on the newly renamed Scotiabank Centre ice featuring your Halifax Mooseheads and provincial rivals Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at 7pm.

 “This is fantastic news for hockey-mad Halifax” said Mayor Mike Savage. “With locally-grown heroes like Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby, and championship teams like the Halifax Mooseheads, Halifax is a natural home for Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada. We’re extremely proud to host an event which celebrates Canada’s game and showcases our contribution to its bright future.”

Here is the broadcast schedule:

• Edmonton @ Ottawa, 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT
• Winnipeg @ Detroit, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT
• Toronto @ Montreal, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT
• Dallas @ Colorado, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
• Vancouver @ Calgary, 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT