Swedish team members listen to head coach Rikard Grönborg as he gives them pointers during a scrimmage. | All photos by Concordia University
The renovated Ed Meagher arena now meets NHL specifications.
Kevin Figsby (at right), head coach of the Stingers men’s hockey team, was instrumental in bringing the Swedish team to Concordia while Patrick Boivin, director of Recreation and Athletics, invited Hockey Canada to stage the three exhibition games.
Patrick Boivin, the university’s director of recreation and athletics, is a member of the volunteer organizing committee for the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championships, taking place in Montreal and Toronto in late December and early January. He invited Hockey Canada to stage the series of exhibition games at Concordia in part because it’s an opportunity to spotlight the university’s upgraded facilities.
“It’s great to have this kind of attention on our facilities. We want to make people aware that this is not the same arena that was here before, and show them what we can offer as a university during the off-season,” says Boivin.
Hosting world-class players and teams also benefits the university’s own hockey program, said Figsby as he pointed out several members of the Stingers men’s hockey team sitting in the stands watching the young Swedes tear up and down the ice.
“Now that we have the building that we have, with the ice that we have, it’s attracting these kinds of things. Certainly in the short term it’s bringing some recognition, but I think in the long term it’s going to pay big dividends for our programs.”
Swedish forward Jacob de la Rose, who was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the 2013 NHL draft, was happy to be back on the ice after a long summer break.
Swedish forward Jacob de la Rose was happy to be back on the ice. He was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the 2013 NHL draft.