THE TOUR OF HOPE RETURNS FOR 2024

June 27th – July 13th, 2024 

In January 2020, the Tour of Hope was established by Kerry Goulet, Wilf Brooks and Angela Lightning to unite Indigenous ice hockey communities in Canada and Australia. The Kaurna Boomerangs from Adelaide, the first Indigenous Ice Hockey Team in the Southern Hemisphere, participated in a cultural exchange in Edmonton and regions around Northern Alberta.

The Kaurna Boomerangs emerged from the Ice Factor Program, founded 15 years ago by Marie Shaw KC to support disadvantaged students. The first Tour of Hope marked a significant cultural and sporting exchange. The Tour of Hope has fostered the grow of the tour to inspire youth to dream big through education and sport.

The second annual Tour of Hope will commence in Melbourne. The Northern Ice will visit Adelaide, Auckland, Queenstown, Wellington, Sydney and Brisbane engaging in cultural exchanges, ice hockey clinics, attend an AFL event, two special cultural dinners and of course, friendly ice hockey games.

Support the Tour of Hope – hoodies, jerseys and pucks! 

Link to Hoodies: SHOP HERE 

Link to Jerseys:  SHOP HERE

TOUR SUMMIT ITINERARY

Melbourne | June 27th & 28th

Thursday, June 27th | 7:00 PM Pre-Event | Welcome Ceremony and Artist Performance

8PM Showcase Game Northern Ice vs Melbourne Ice Jr Development Team 

We experienced an amazing welcome to country at the O’Brien Icehouse with Aunty Zeta and from there the evening was brilliant. The Northern Ice took on the Melbourne Junior Development team to a crowd of over 600 which included Athol Hodgetts, Director of O’Brien Icehouse, Councillor and Doctor Olivia Ballard 2006 Gold Medalist for Canada in Para Ice Hockey, Paul Rosen. The score really did not matter as both teams played their hearts out and electrified the crowd with the Melbourne team squeaking out a 5-3 over the Canadian team. The cultural exchange at the end of the game both on and off the ice was second to none. It was great to see several Melbourne Ice pro players at the event supporting this important movement of hope, thanks to Jeff Solow, Austin Albrecht, Joachim Erdugan, Roman Kraemer, Tatsu Ishida and Ray Khalil.

Adelaide | June 30th

Adelaide once again put on a show like no other. Marie Shaw KC, founder of the Ice Factor Program organized an event that will be remembered by all, for a very long time. Uncle Moogy preformed the welcome to country with a traditional smoking and song which had the 400 in attendance ready for this international ice hockey extravanza. The list of dignitaries was impressive with Michael O’Donnell from the Canadian Consulate Sydney (the our’s cultural partner), the Honourable Mira El Dannani representing the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Josh Teague Shadow Minister for Aborinal Affairs, Glen Foll Director of Adelaide Adrenaline, Sam Trapolino of Stop Concussions as well as entertaininga Sami Mantere and Paul Rosens the international commentators. The Northern Ice played a very strong game in their second international game and came away with a 6-3 win over the impressive Kaurna Boomerangs. The Ice defended their last years win of the Damper Cup and look forward to returning very soon to continue the cultural game and exchange. The two teams met up after the game and shared stories of the heritage and great friendship were continued and made from this event.

Auckland | July 1st

Hobbiton was on the docket for Auckland.  The players experienced the adventure just like any Hobbit would!  Great time had by all!

Queenstown | July 5th

Friday, July 5th | 6:15 PM vs Queenstown Rangers

We are super excited to be in Queenstown.  Cold but not for us Canadians!   Tonight we will be playing at the Queenstown Ice Arena with a puck drop at 6:15 PM – tickets are free so please join us tonight!  Get your game memorabilia and help support The Tour of Hope!

Wellington | July 7th

Sunday, July 7th | 4pm 3v3 game WIHA All Stars vs Canada, Daytona Adventure Park

5:30 pm dinner at Fermented.

Brisbane | July 13th

Saturday, July 13th | Guests of Melbourne Ice vs Brisbane Lightning Ice Hockey Team 

*****

The Canadian contingency will present Indigenous culture, and stories will be exchanged along with Indigenous art.

If you are interested in getting involved in any capacity or would like to sponsor a player, donate an excursion/item, or volunteer,
please contact Toni Miil at toni@29sports.com

Kerry Goulet +61 412 279 617 goulet29@29sport.com

ICE HOCKEY CLASSIC

Returning to Australia and
New Zealand in 2025.

Canada vs USA Ice Hockey Game 

Over 10 years ago, Kerry Goulet had a dream to showcase Canada’s game to the world, Ice Hockey. Since then, the Ice Hockey Classic has done 11 tours showcasing hockey games between two of Hockey’s biggest rivals, Canada and the USA. 

The Ice Hockey Classic is a worldwide hockey extravaganza that features hockey players – current or retired professional players from various leagues including the NHL, AHL, ECHL, European Leagues, and the NCAA.

These carefully picked players are not only skilled Hockey players but are also ambassadors of the game. The players come together to highlight the fastest sport on ice while donating their time to support Goulet’s passionate endeavour to raise awareness for mental health and concussions.

The Ice Hockey Classic’s 3s tournament is planned for early 2023 in New Zealand and Australia. The cities being considered: Dunedin, Wellington, Auckland, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.

GET READY
WE ARE BACK

Thank you to the fans who have followed us and have always inspired us to achieve more. 

The Ice Hockey Classic tour is proud to work with the StopConcussions Foundation, a not-for-profit organization in Ontario, their Safe4Sports Prevention Program and Connected – a mental health campaign. 

StopConcussions was designed to educate players, administrators, physicians, coaches, and officials on the cause, effects, and consequences of concussions and neurotrauma injuries, not only in hockey but all sports.

Safe4Sports clinics: Players, coaches and administrators benefit from off-ice seminars designed for their specific roles and responsibilities in prevention. An additional parent session may also be added. In addition, on-ice clinics teaching movement concepts, fundamentals and the 4 leading indicators are provided in hourly sessions led by our trained expert instructors.

“One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives.” Many individuals have expressed post-injury stress and anxiety. Our findings have shown that these neurological issues can lead to severe depression, addiction, and in many cases, suicide.

We know this issue is crucial to address and we need to do more. We know that community and social connection is among the best methods for helping individuals who suffer from mental illness and other psychological difficulties in their lives.

For more information concussions, please visit stopconcussions.com

ice-hockey-players

OVER THE PAST SEASONS, WE HAVE HAD OVER 100,000 SPECTATORS IN ATTENDANCE ACROSS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

“I can’t say enough about how great my time was at the Ice Hockey Classic in Australia. The rinks were full and the fans, crazy! It is a first-class event and certainly is something you would not want to miss. Kerry and Toni make the players feel like family!”

BRENT BURNS
ICE HOCKEY CLASSIC ALUMNI

“The fans and the tour did not disappoint.
An amazing experience! A must for anyone invited. Can’t wait for 2022.”

ERIC NEILSON
ICE HOCKEY CLASSIC ALUMNI

“If you were to ask me if 20,000 fans would fill a rink in Sydney, Australia, I would have never believed it. I did not realize how big hockey was Down Under. So when I got invited to get on board to help promote our game and support StopConcussions, I jumped at it. The number of NHL jerseys I saw in the crowd was amazing plus having Nathan Walker participate in the tour was fantastic. Great event. It was good to see so many kids playing our sport here!”

WAYNE GRETZKY
ICE HOCKEY CLASSIC ALUMNI

Growing successful by staying focused.

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For more information on the event or becoming a partner please contact: 

Kerry Goulet, Global Director 
T: 416 828 2929  |  E: goulet29@stopconcussions.com

Toni Miil, Director of Logistics 
T: 416 453 0739  |  E: toni@29ports.com