The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins have announced the details for this year’s Sportsman’s Dinner.
The event, which is the club’s top fundraiser of the year, will take place April 25 at the Power Dodge Curling Centre. For the second straight year, it will feature a pub-style meal, with local restaurants supplying pizza, chicken wings and more.
“It’s less of a formal dinner format, and more of sitting around, listening to some great stories, bidding on some auction items and enjoying some finger food as well,” said Danny Ewen, the team’s director of operations and marketing.
“We had some very, very good reception on that last year as well. It was universal that everyone really enjoyed that kind of format, so it was a no-brainer for us to return to that style this year.”
Also for the second straight year, long-time NHL player Jim McKenzie will be in Estevan for the banquet. McKenzie, who grew up in Carlyle and has family in the Estevan area, will bring two other retired enforcers with him to Estevan: Stu Grimson and Reid Simpson.
“Those three guys are going to be talking with each other … in a hot stove-style format, just sharing stories and feeding off of one another,” said Ewen.
While he hasn’t heard Grimson or Simpson speak before, Ewen said they are very well spoken, just like McKenzie, and he expects it will be an entertaining night for the audience.
Ewen is looking forward to hearing McKenzie once again.
“He’s a very colourful guy, with his own batch of stories, and he’s got these connections to some well-known names from the last several years,” said Ewen.
McKenzie played 880 games in the NHL and finished with 48 goals and 100 points, to go with 1,739 penalties in minutes (PIMs) in a career that spanned from 1989-90 to 2003-04. He won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2003.
Grimson, who was colourfully nicknamed “The Grim Reaper” because of his last name and his fighting ability, had 17 goals, 39 points and 2,113 PIMs in 729 career NHL games from 1988-89 to 2001-02.
Simpson had 18 goals, 36 points and 838 PIMs in a 301-game NHL career that lasted from 1991-92 to 2003-04.
Grimson and Simpson were teammates with the Nashville Predators in 2001-02.
Rod Pedersen, who was the play-by-play voice of the Saskatchewan Roughriders for many years, will return to Estevan to MC the event.
Live and silent auctions will also be part of the fundraiser. Items for those auctions have yet to be announced, but Ewen said people can expect to see vacation packages and more.
Ticket sales started this week, and Ewen hopes they can sell 50-60 tables for the fundraiser.
Ewen noted Affinity Place was not available for the banquet this year, so the Bruins decided to have it at the curling club.
