World juniors 'puts Olds on the map'

A sellout crowd of 1,008 people attended the first international hockey game in Olds last week, giving the community a huge boost in reputation, according to the president of the Olds and District Chamber of Commerce.

The Swedish national men's U-20 team beat their Danish counterpart 8-0 at the Olds Sports Complex in a pre-tournament game prior to the under-20 men's world championship being held in Edmonton and Calgary that began yesterday.

“I truly believe the ability to bring in the world juniors (exhibition) game has not only attracted a lot of outsiders but puts Olds on the map, not only for Canadian communities, but the world in general. Here's two international teams that have come to play (for) us … and you're going to get a lot of publicity with that. This is just the beginning of what will help to grow the businesses here in Olds,” said Curtis Setso.

Setso noted that with the world ploughing championships and Olds College's centennial celebrations both slated for 2013, the game last week was just the start of some large events happening in Olds.

“These are huge … events that are going to make Olds a centre of influence and … attract outside investments hopefully that will help with our business community,” he said.

As branch manager of the local RBC branch, Setso presented a $5,000 cheque to the Olds Minor Hockey Association to help with the development of minor hockey. It was part of RBC's sponsorship of the world hockey tour organized by Hockey Alberta in connection with the U-20 world championship. RBC donated a total of $70,000 to community hockey associations across Alberta.

Another attendee at the game, Doreen Mousek, said the game provided many people with an opportunity that they might not otherwise have to see hockey of such a high calibre.

“I think it's also good for development of the sport. There's a lot of children here involved in hockey so it gives them something to see on a bigger scale. If you expose that to them at an early age, I think it sparks them to move beyond what they know on a smaller scale,” she said.

Rick Lobe agreed that it was an excellent opportunity to expose minor hockey players to top-level play. His nine-year-old son Peyton was given the opportunity to take part in a four-on-four tournament a couple of hours before the game.

“It was awesome for the kids,” he said.

“For small-town people being able to see a world-class game like this was awesome. The speed, the skill set that these guys have is unreal,” he said.