Wellington, the place in
which New Zealand’s greatest
icon, the All Blacks, play
rugby to crowds of 38,000.
Each year, this Canada-
USA Tour is amazing. The
tour featured Brent Burns
in 2015, Wayne Gretzky in
the 2016 and then Darryl
Sittler and Dave (Tiger)
Williams, as head coaches,
in 2017. Since the inception
of the tour, the Ice Hockey
Classic has helped grow the
game Down Under and it
has also supported some
very good causes along the
way – the StopConcussions
Foundation, Shoot For A Cure
(campaign of the Canadian
and American Spinal Research
Organizations) and a number
of Brain Injury Associations.
The Ice Hockey Classic has
visited Melbourne, Sydney,
Brisbane, Adelaide, New
Castle and Perth in the past
and we see the importance
of adding new destinations.
The tour has been successful
because it features the
world’s two ice hockey giants,
Canada and the USA. With
sell-out games throughout
Australia, the promoters saw
other very strong markets
that are populated by large
expat communities and they
decided New Zealand is the
next country that will get
to witness the skill, speed
and passion of the tour.
The teams are made up of
players from the NHL, AHL,
ECHL and Canadian and
American players who play
in Europe. Keith Primeau,
a former 16-year veteran
of the NHL has also been
a driving force and will act
once again as the General
Manager of the tour, working
alongside Goulet, the Global
Director of the tour.
Over the years Goulet has
been able to confirm some big
names for this one-of-a-kind
THE 2018
ICE HOCKEY CLASSIC
TOUR DATES
D AT E
TOUR RUN
COMMENTS
M O N D AY, 1 8 J U N E 2 0 1 8
T U E S D AY, 1 9 J U N E 2 0 1 8
LEAVE NORTH AMERICA
W E D N E S D AY, 2 0 J U N E 2 0 1 8
T H U R S D AY, 2 1 J U N E 2 0 1 8
F R I D AY, 2 2 J U N E 2 0 1 8 AUCKLAND INDOOR - GAME
S AT U R D AY, 2 3 J U N E 2 0 1 8 WELLINGTON OUTDOOR - GAME
S U N D AY, 2 4 J U N E 2 0 1 8
M O N D AY, 2 5 J U N E 2 0 1 8
T U E S D AY, 2 6 J U N E 2 0 1 8
W E D N E S D AY, 2 7 J U N E 2 0 1 8
T H U R S D AY, 2 8 J U N E 2 0 1 8
F R I D AY, 2 9 J U N E 2 0 1 8
S AT U R D AY, 3 0 J U N E 2 0 1 8 SYDNEY H O C K E Y D AY I N A U S T R A L I A
S U N D AY, 1 J U LY 2 0 1 8 GALA C A N A D A D AY C E L E B R AT I O N
M O N D AY, 2 J U LY 2 0 1 8
T U E S D AY, 3 J U LY 2 0 1 8
W E D N E S D AY, 4 J U LY 2 0 1 8
T H U R S D AY, 5 J U LY 2 0 1 8
ADELAIDE
INDOOR - GAME
F R I D AY, 6 J U LY 2 0 1 8
S AT U R D AY, 7 J U LY 2 0 1 8
BRISBANE
H O C K E Y D AY I N A U S T R A L I A
F O R M O R E I N F O G O T O W W W. I C E H O C K E Y C L A S S I C . C O M . A U
1 0 6 | G AME O N | D EC EM BER 2017
tour and has attracted such
NHLers as Brent Burns, 2017
(Norris Trophy winner), Ian
Cole (two time Stanley Cup
Winner), Adam Cracknell
(Dallas Stars), Peter Holland
(Montreal Canadiens), Ben
Harpur (Ottawa Senators),
Chris Dreidger (Ottawa
Senators, who will return in
net for the Canadians in 2018),
Kyle Quincey (Minnesota
Wild), Eric Condra (Tampa
Bay Lightning), Scott Darling
(Carolina Hurricanes), Ben
Scrivens (former Montreal
Canadiens), Scott Hannan
(former San Jose Shark),
David Booth (former Toronto
Maple Leafs), Zenon Konopka
(former Ottawa Senator), and
Winnipeg’s Bryce Salvador
(former captain of the New
Jersey Devils). This year,
Driedger and Yake will be
back. Yake will also be a Team
Canada assistant coach.
This year the tour will also
feature two Hockey Day in
Australia events in Sydney and
Brisbane. The Hockey Days will
feature a Winterfest, street
hockey tournament, three-
on-three kids tournament,
tail gate party for Canada
Day and to end the day
off, the highlight game
between Canada and USA.
Big time hockey returns
to Australia and, once again,
Manitoba will play a major
role in the celebration.❍