Calgary girls' hockey team victim of theft, $10-15k worth of sticks stolen
· Toronto Sun
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A girls hockey team from Calgary was left somewhat bewildered after thousands of dollars’ worth of hockey sticks were stolen from a rented bus in downtown Hamilton sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning.
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Prior to their third game at the Stoney Creek University Showcase, the Calgary International Hockey Academy’s U-18 girls’ team discovered their entire stick inventory had been stolen in the build up to their Saturday morning game against the North York Storm.
The showcase is a proving ground, of sorts, for girls with big dreams. More than 90 university and college hockey teams on both sides of the border sent scouts to evaluate players from the 68 teams involved.
After losing 2-1 to the Burlington Barracudas on Friday night, the team returned to its headquarters at the team hotel on Queen St. N. in Hamilton.
Team general manager Dan Cioffi told the Hamilton Spectator that the team left 40-50 sticks on the rented bus, which was parked in a lot in the downtown core. The estimated value of the sticks was $10,000-15,000.
The following morning, the squad hopped on the team bus and headed for the rink for their 11 a.m. game at Liuna 4 Ice Centre on Mountain Brow Blvd in Hamilton.
A lifeline
At that point, it became the usual routine as the players unloaded their equipment and started the walk to the dressing room, but at some point, they discovered their sticks were gone.
With the entire team and staff standing around bereft of the most crucial piece of equipment, their quick-thinking general manager came to the rescue.
Through a coach on the team, the GM discovered there was a Pro Hockey Life a couple of blocks away from the arena.
Soon after, the GM and the coach found themselves in the store pulling sticks off the shelf and tossing them in a bin.
The Spectator said the pair arrived back at the rink some 15 minutes before the puck drop, where parents and staff were waiting with an electric saw to cut the sticks to match players’ heights.
Thanks to everyone’s help, every girl had a stick when the puck dropped at 11 a.m.
The Calgary squad finished the event with a 0-2-1-1 record. The host Stoney Creek Sabres U18 squad won the event with a 3-0 win over Lovell Academy on Sunday afternoon.
Hamilton police said they are investigating the theft.