EvanL
02-18-2004, 01:05 PM
AJAY BHARDWAJ, EDMONTON SUN
They're shooting for hockey nights - and days - in Canada. Forty soldiers from Edmonton Garrison hope to get into the Guiness World Records by playing hockey for 144 consecutive hours starting today.
But Sgt. Rick Dube's ambitious plan - to be carried out on an outdoor rink - seemed to be in some jeopardy when temperatures soared to 7 C yesterday.
"I never thought I'd be praying for cold weather," laughed Dube, 36, a member of the 1 Field Ambulance.
The current game record is 130 hours and seven minutes set by the Moosomin Moose Fraternity hockey team, in Moosomin, Sask., Oct. 13-18, 2003.
And if it's too toasty for an outdoor game, the play will move indoors, said Dube. "I'm 99.9% sure we're going to play it outdoors," he said.
Soldiers hope to raise money for the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation. "Right now the guys are very excited," said Dube. "It's like they're little kids at Christmas time."
He said there were plenty of soldiers interested in playing, what with the garrison having two leagues and lots of players. The response was so phenomenal, would-be participants were asked to fill out a survey saying why they wanted to play and then were put through military fitness testing. "Even up to now people are asking, 'Can we play?' "
The list was cut to 40 players - 20 each on two teams - who hit the ice today at 9:30 a.m.
Last winter Dr. Brent Saik, a Sherwood Park optometrist, organized an outdoor hockey game that raised $40,000 for cancer research and came close to the 80-hour mark.
They're shooting for hockey nights - and days - in Canada. Forty soldiers from Edmonton Garrison hope to get into the Guiness World Records by playing hockey for 144 consecutive hours starting today.
But Sgt. Rick Dube's ambitious plan - to be carried out on an outdoor rink - seemed to be in some jeopardy when temperatures soared to 7 C yesterday.
"I never thought I'd be praying for cold weather," laughed Dube, 36, a member of the 1 Field Ambulance.
The current game record is 130 hours and seven minutes set by the Moosomin Moose Fraternity hockey team, in Moosomin, Sask., Oct. 13-18, 2003.
And if it's too toasty for an outdoor game, the play will move indoors, said Dube. "I'm 99.9% sure we're going to play it outdoors," he said.
Soldiers hope to raise money for the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation. "Right now the guys are very excited," said Dube. "It's like they're little kids at Christmas time."
He said there were plenty of soldiers interested in playing, what with the garrison having two leagues and lots of players. The response was so phenomenal, would-be participants were asked to fill out a survey saying why they wanted to play and then were put through military fitness testing. "Even up to now people are asking, 'Can we play?' "
The list was cut to 40 players - 20 each on two teams - who hit the ice today at 9:30 a.m.
Last winter Dr. Brent Saik, a Sherwood Park optometrist, organized an outdoor hockey game that raised $40,000 for cancer research and came close to the 80-hour mark.