SASKATOON – An iconic Canadian story about a boy and his hockey uniform is bringing together a junior sports team and a symphony orchestra.
A musical adaptation of Roch Carrier’s “The Hockey Sweater” is to be presented live at SaskTel Centre by the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra next March.
The Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League decided they wanted the concert’s first performance on ice done in their home arena.
Kids will be allowed to skate with the team after the show, which is to include illustrations from the book projected onto the scoreboard.
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Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison will narrate the tale, and there will also be autograph sessions and interactive games.
“The Hockey Sweater” is based on a real experience Carrier had growing up in Quebec and is considered to exemplify Canada’s passion for the game.
It tells the story of a boy who is ridiculed when he is made to wear a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater by his mother after she mistakenly orders the wrong one to replace his worn-out Montreal Canadiens Maurice Richard jersey.
It’s also considered to be an allegory of the relationship and tensions that existed between francophones and anglophones in the 1940s.
The Saskatoon event is bringing many different things together, suggested Blades president Steve Hogle.
“Hockey’s a great platform. It is a really common bond among Canadians,” he said on the Blades website Tuesday. “We can use that and leverage that to get into things like music and literature and celebrate … aspects of hockey as well.”
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