Saturday, November 21, 2009

AJHL All Star Weekend

Press Release

November 16th, 2009 – The Fort McMurray Oil Barons and Alberta Junior Hockey League are proud to unveil the exciting details of the 2010 Scott Safety AJHL All-Star Weekend. NHL alumnus Jeremy Roenick and Edmonton Oilers President & CEO Patrick LaForge will be the Guest Speakers at the annual Scott Safety AJHL Scholarship Banquet, which will be hosted by Emcee Dan O’Toole of TSN`s Sports Desk.

The 2010 AJHL All-Star Weekend will open on Friday night with a regular season match-up between the North Division’s Spruce Grove Saints and the hometown Fort McMurray Oil Barons at the Thickwood Heights Arena at 7:30PM. The Oil Barons and AJHL have partnered with the Rural Alberta Midget Hockey League (RAMHL), who will kick off Saturday’s events with the RAMHL All-Star Game at 11:00AM. The 2010 Scott Safety AJHL All-Star Game will follow at 3:30PM as the North Division All-Stars will look to defend its reign as 2009 Champion.

The weekend will conclude with an unprecedented evening at the 2010 Scott Safety AJHL Scholarship Banquet. The Banquet will include Guest Speakers Jeremy Roenick and Patrick LaForge, along with the presentation of approximately $50,000 in annual AJHL Scholarships.

The Fort McMurray Oil Barons are honoured to bring NHL All-Star Jeremy Roenick to Fort McMurray. Roenick was drafted eighth overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks and made his NHL debut that same year. In 2009, Jeremy Roenick announced his retirement from the National Hockey League after careers with 5 NHL franchises. Roenick finished his career having scored 513 goals and 703 assists in 1,363 games, for a total of 1,216 points. During his career, Roenick played in nine NHL All-Star Games, represented Team USA at the 1998 Winter Olympics and won a Silver Medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Patrick LaForge will be a highlight for all those in attendance at the Scott Safety AJHL Scholarship Banquet. Patrick LaForge is the President & CEO of the Edmonton Oilers. Since being hired in 2000, he has worked actively to build pride of ownership for the organization while exploring to strengthen and stabilize the club commercially. Today the Oilers are one of the most financially successful Clubs in the NHL and rated as a Top 10 sports club in the world by Money Magazine. One of LaForge’s most broadly known achievements is his role in producing the inaugural regular season NHL outdoor game, the Heritage Classic. LaForge was named one of Alberta’s 50 most influential people by Alberta Venture Magazine

“Our organization is honoured and privileged to have all sixteen AJHL teams in our city to host the 2010 AJHL All-Star Weekend,” says Oil Barons President Andrew Boutilier. “We are happy to invite all family and friends of the AJHL to join us in our celebration of the AJHL and the All Star Weekend.”

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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