“Mr. O Canada” will return to Williams Lake to sing the national anthem at tonight’s Timberwolves game against the Quesnel Millionaires.
Mark Donnelly, known to hockey fans as the man who sings O Canada at Vancouver Canucks games, and the father of T-wolves goaltender Sean Donnelly, was in Williams Lake Oct. 30 to sing the anthem.
“We’re hoping that everyone who comes out to the game on the 26th will be wearing red,” says Timberwolves co-owner Richard Kohlen, noting he hopes to have the Cariboo Memorial Complex packed for the game.
“We want to get the sea of red out and get behind our community and support the torch coming to Williams Lake.
“We’re also going to have Williams Lake Minor Hockey [Association] doing a little gig between one of the periods and also the figure skating club,” he says.
In kicking off the Olympic Torch week in Williams Lake, the Timberwolves are also raffling off a trip for two to Vancouver on Feb. 19 to take in an Olympic Victory Ceremony for ladies half-pipe snowboarding, along with a Theory of a Deadman concert. Immediately following that, the two lucky winners will be treated to a men’s preliminary hockey game at the University of British Columbia’s Thunderbird Stadium between Germany and Belarus.
Tickets are $5 and will be available at the game tonight between the T-wolves and the Millionaires, and are also available at Walmart, Margetts Meats and the T-wolves office.
The winners will be announced Jan. 28 during the Olympic Torch Relay Celebration, where the T-wolves will be volunteering at the event.
“They’re [the players] going to be helping setup the stage, we’re going to have our mascot there and we’ll be just helping with the general monitoring and helping people out and making sure everyone gets to the right place on time,” he says.
This past Saturday, the Timberwolves hosted a barbecue in the Walmart parking lot where burgers, snacks and beverages were available to guests.
“We had a great turnout,” Kohlen says. “We’ve had lots of people through and lots of awareness about what’s going on next weekend for the torch relay.”
The game tonight is the Timberwolves’ kickoff for the Olympic torch celebration. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.