Ever wonder how those old Bruins stars you used to watch in the '70s and '80s are holding up? Here's your chance.
A slew of former National Hockey League players from the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, and two teams that no longer exist -- the Quebec Nordiques and Harford Whalers -- are coming to Stowe this weekend, along with a host of talented college players and celebrities, to raise money for a new Jackson Arena.
Leading the lineup of former Bruins standouts is Brad Park, the legendary defenseman who is in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Next come stalwart, stay-at-home defensemen Rick Smith and Gary Doak, the magical right-winger Rick Middleton, plus players such as Bruce Crowder, Cleon Daskalakis, Glen Featherstone, Bruce Shoebottom, Bob Miller, John Carter, Guy Larose, Bob Cormier, Frank Walker and John Horrigan.
That assemblage of aging talent will take on a hodgepodge of former NHL players, college and national team players and even a Hollywood celebrity. They are
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| Rick “Nifty” Middleton |
calling themselves "the Stowe Aces," and were formed for the sole purpose of facing off against the former Bruins.The Aces team includes notables such as Bobby Farrelly of the comedic screenwriting duo the Farrelly Brothers, ("Dumb and Dumber," "Something About Mary"); Steve Rooney and Mike Lalor, who won Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens; Tony McKegney of the Quebec Nordiques and other teams; and a slew of other talented collegiate, NHL and national team players.
The game is 4 p.m. this Saturday at Jackson Arena. During the game, the Stanley Cup, professional hockey's most famous trophy, will be on display at the rink.After the game, the cup and the players will move to the Rusty Nail for a meet-and-greet dinner at 6:30 p.m. There, fans can get autographs from the players and have a professional photograph taken with the Stanley Cup.
Tickets for the game are $15 and can be purchased at the door, or in advance at the Stowe Area Association on Main Street.
Tickets to the dinner at the Rusty Nail are $25.
Fundraiser
The object of this weekend's event is to get the wheels rolling on a massive fundraising effort to build a new ice arena in town. So far, about $500,000 of the estimated $3.9 million still needed to build the arena has been raised. Voters approved $2 million toward the $6 million project, but the rest must be raised privately.
"This (event) isn't really aimed to make a lot of money by itself, but we hope it will get the public more involved in the fundraising process," said Don Post, who is organizing the event. "We hope more people will get in on what's going on."
The new rink will eventually replace Jackson Arena, which is more than 30 years old. The new arena will be about 10,000 square feet bigger and totally enclosed, unlike the open-air rink that's there now.
The project's original timeline called for demolition of the old arena last March, with construction to begin by early April. That timetable had to be pushed back a year, giving the town more time to acquire state permits and Post and others more time to raise the money.
Now, the town has the permits for the arena in hand. All that's left is the money, and that will probably prove to be the most difficult part.
"With the economy the way it is, we're not sure what is going to happen," Post said. "We are expecting fundraising to be much harder."
