Air Canada’s iconic rondelle was centre stage at a sold-out Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Newcastle this month to kick off the biggest game on the Australian Ice Hockey League’s calendar, the Grand Final of the legendary Goodall Cup.
After first eliminating tournament favourites the Canberra Brave in the semi-final, the Sydney Bears took on the Perth Thunder, who broke local hearts by knocking out the Newcastle North Stars. In the end, for only second time in its history, the Bears emerged victorious.
This is seventh consecutive year Air Canada has presented the AIHL finals and the airline shared the weekend’s games – which were live streamed on Fox Sports Australia – with almost 30 travel industry guests, including team members from the Hunter Travel Group and Scenic.
Sales Account Manager Neil Ford and Sales Planning Manager Australia Fei Revel also had the honour of presenting the winners with this year’s Goodall Cup – the world’s third oldest ice hockey trophy – and their hard-earned medals.
As well as giving Australians a taste of Canadian sporting culture, Air Canada General Manager Vic Naughton says the airline’s sponsorship of the AIHL Grand Final has created thousands of new fans for one of the world’s most exciting sports.
“No one loves ice hockey more than Canadians and Air Canada has been delighted to help share that passion with Australians over the past seven years,” says Naughton.
“During that time the Australian Ice Hockey League and Air Canada have both grown enormously – local games attracting ever larger crowds and Air Canada tripling its Australian network.
“I’ve no doubt that as ice hockey grows in popularity in Australia it will help lift Canada’s profile and forge even stronger bonds between our countries.”
AC_1_Dawn Watt (AIHL), Fei Revel (Air Canada) and Michael Schlamp (Captain of the victorious Sydney Bears)
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