The numbers are staggering.
When Esso Minor Hockey Week opens Friday, it will unleash a week of non-stop minor hockey in which 11,000 kids, 650 teams, 2,600 coaches and 4,000 volunteers will participate.
Travel up and down this country and all around the world, and you won’t find a minor hockey tournament with numbers that come anywhere close to those.
It’s the centrepiece of a hockey-mad city’s annual on-ice calendar, and the biggest minor hockey tournament in the world.
“We’re pretty excited, “ said Kevin Kobelka, Hockey Calgary executive director. “It’s like the mini Stanley Cup for kinds in Calgary and it comes right in the middle of the (season), so it’s a good way to kick off the second half.