Nova Scotia Breaking The Canada Games Attendance Records in Men’s Hockey

Yeah, That’s how we do it here in Nova Scotia. When it comes to supporting local events, we’re all over it. Last night’s gold medal game between British Columbia and Quebec for men’s hockey at the 2011 Canada Winter Games was no different. With almost 9,000 tickets sold, we set the record ticket sales for any sport at any Canada Games ever!!! The tickets available online had been sold out for weeks prior to the event. Pretty much everyone who could get their hands on a ticket showed up to watch some of Canada's best hockey prospects duel it out for gold.

If you were lucky enough to get a ticket, you were not disappointed with last night games either. There was some great hockey being played. The crowd was into to all night long as well. They sang along and clapped to every classic Maritimer song played between the whistles. It did not matter to them who scored. The crowd was celebrating every goal...

For the most part the game was pretty close. Quebec scored the first goal less than a minute into the first period but BC was quick to answer. And it went back and forth all night. Quebec was down 4-2 at the end of the second period but came out in the third with lots of jump in their step. They scored two goals half way into the third to tie it up at 4. It looked like Quebec was about to turn the tables until BC rose up to the challenge and responded with goal number 5. They were not going to let go of their hopes for gold that easy. From then on BC pretty much ran away with it in the end of the third for a final score of 7-4.

The thing is that these record numbers mean a lot more than just Nova Scotian love for hockey. It creates interest from other large events to look into Halifax to be one of their host cities. It provides an example of just how much community support there is in Halifax and why we are such great hosts. Like the Canada Games, hopefully those events will generate interest in constructing new infrastructure and providing upgrades to our old facilities. A win-win for everyone.