EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – The 25 players of the Edmundston Blizzard, champions of the Metalfab MHL Cup, were greeted by their fans on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in front of the Jean-Daigle Centre.
The “Celebration of Champions” event drew hundreds of fans to cheer on their heroes. Fans were able to get autographs from the players, have their picture taken and chat with them. The day included inflatable games, a 50-50 draw and a draw for the four caps emblematic of the Blizzard’s exceptional season-long journey.
Immediately after the big rally, the Blizzard players took to the Jean-Daigle Centre ice one last time to train for the Canadian Centennial Cup Championship, to be held in Calgary from May 8 to 18.
The players and team staff will leave Tuesday morning for the Moncton airport, where they will fly to the Alberta metropolis of over one million inhabitants.
The Canadian Junior A Championship was established in 1971. Although two teams from the Maritimes have won the precious Canadian trophy (Summerside in 1997 and Halifax in 2002), no New Brunswick team has managed to get its hands on the Holy Grail. Ranked number one in the country, the Blizzard are determined to put an end to this 54-year drought.
In Calgary, each team will play four games in the round-robin tournament. The Blizzard will take on the Rockland Nationals (3rd in the country) on Thursday, May 8 at 7 p.m. (N.B. time), the Melfort Mustangs (5th in the country) on Saturday, May 10 at 3 p.m. (N.B. time), the Valleyfield Braves (12th in the country) on Monday, May 12 at 3 p.m. (N.B. time), and the host team, the Calgary Canucks (15th in the country), on Tuesday, May 13 at 10:30 p.m. (N.B. time).
The quarterfinals will be played on Friday, May 16, the semi-finals on Saturday, May 17 and the final on Sunday, May 18. To watch the games, fans will need to subscribe to HNLive.ca. For details on the webcast and the championship in general, people can visit the Centennial Cup page: https://www.hockeycanada.ca/fr-ca/national-championships/men/national-junior-a/2025.
This is the Blizzard’s eighth season in Edmundston. After taking top honors in its inaugural season in 2017-2018, the Blizzard repeated the feat this spring with back-to-back playoff victories over the Miramichi Timberwolves (4-1), Campbellton Tigers (4-0) and Pictou County Weeks Crushers (4-0).
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Photo
Blizzard players met their fans on Sunday afternoon in front of the Jean-Daigle Centre. Photo Percy Picard
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Source: Hugues Chiasson, communications co-ordinator – Edmundston Blizzard – 506 740-0623 – (cell.)