Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say a few words about hockey. I am very proud to have the opportunity to acknowledge the community of Plaster Rock, where more than 200 organizers and volunteers are getting ready for the World Pond Hockey Championships being held this weekend.
If hockey is our most popular national game, then nobody does a better job of making us feel like Canadians than the people of Plaster Rock.
This top-notch, annual, four-day event started as a community fundraiser and now draws more than 8,000 spectators and 120 teams from around the world for a bit of fun on Roulston Lake.
With gentlemen rules, mounds of snow to shape the rinks, live bands, fireworks, frigid temperatures, tailgate parties, barrel fires, and double-wide Zambonis; the World Pond Hockey Championship takes hometown hockey to a whole new level.
The World Pond Hockey Championship—