Those that couldn’t get their hands on the first round of tickets are in luck. The Boundary Battle of Alberta is scheduling a second game at noon on Saturday, September 28, just hours before the originally sold-out match.
Previously, the BBOA’s massive ticket sales raised nearly $40,000 for Project Sunrise, the Lloydminster Region Health Foundation’s mental health initiative. Announced the morning of July 9, the tickets sold out in only seven hours. Proceeds from this round of tickets will all support the same cause with the same price of $25.
With the city’s permission, the additional game at noon means community festivities will be pushed back to earlier in the morning. Steven Cassidy of Boundary Ford says it’ll be a day filled with fun, with possible autograph signings and other surprised both before and after the puck drops.
“From the second you walk into that arena, it’s going to have a special feel,” says Cassidy. “We’ll have some special surprises for that day, that I won’t tell people about. So that when you show up to the arena you’ll be pleasantly surprised about whatever else we have in store for everyone.”
Ahead of the double-dose of legendary hockey, merchandise is available. Ironjet Promotions is offering BBOA t-shirts and hoodies, in Oilers blue and Flames red. A portal has also opened up online for pre-ordering other pieces of event merchandise. Cassidy affirms that proceeds from merchandise sales will also benefit project sunrise.
“It’s something else that we wanted to give the public to commemorate the event by, essentially. This is super special (and it) doesn’t happen every day.”
Malcolm Radke of the LRHF says the teams were “really really impressed” when they were told the first set of tickets sold out. The response from the Border City gives the chance to offer the game all over again, which Radke ties into the broader issue of mental health in sports.
“It always seems like when it’s the right cause, everybody gets on board so quickly and it goes smoothly, and that’s what we’ve seen here with this one,” says Radke. “Obviously there’s a big push in all of sports [sic] and in the hockey world to recognize the mental health aspect of the game, and you’re seeing that with the response of some of these organizations here locally.”
Tickets are available at Boundary Ford, or online at the LRHF’s website.