Let Prince Rupert's Carnival of Hockey begin! As Hometown Hockey prepares for Saturday opening

While the Carnival took a pass this year, the Civic Centre parking lot
is like a Hockey Midway today, as the final touches go into place
for Rogers Hometown Hockey weekend in Prince Rupert

The North Coast may have missed out on the attractions of the midway in April this year, when West Coast Amusements took a pass on directions west of Prince George.

But as any drive past the Civic Centre over the last four days will have shown; a midway has arrived for December, with the range of attractions for Rogers Hometown Hockey now in the final stages of preparation.

The Big festival of hockey for the city starts tomorrow at noon in the parking lot of the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre, with the Rogers cavalcade having started to assemble on Tuesday, growing exponentially as the big rigs made their way from last weeks location of Red Deer to the far northwest corner of British Columbia.

A look at some of the setting up of the Rogers Hometown Hockey festival
taking place Saturday and Sunday in Prince Rupert

The weekend festival of hockey has been coordinated with Rogers Hometown Hockey officials and the local organizing committee, with the city featuring a number of window displays to celebrate the weekend's events as the community prepared to embrace its moment in the National spotlight.

There is a full schedule of events planned for both Saturday and Sunday, with the hometown Prince Rupert Rampage set to be at the centre of attention on Saturday night when they host their long time rivals the Terrace River Kings for a pivotal CIHL showdown at 7PM.

Sunday of course is Rogers Hometown Hockey night, with the Sabres and Oilers set to be the main attraction on the Big Screen, with hosts Ron MacLean and Tara Slone taking to the Hometown Hockey Stage for the broadcast at 4:30 PM.

Their arrival on the stage marking the final hours for what promises to be a pretty special weekend of celebration of Canada's game and community spirit.

As the photos indicate, parking will be a bit of a challenge for the weekend and the City of Prince Rupert has put in place a parking plan, with overflow lots at Charles Hays Secondary, Prince Rupert Middle School and downtown at the lot across from the Northern Savings Credit Union.

Learn more about that plan and the shuttle bus system in place here.

A look at the packed schedule of events see our notes from late November, while a wider overview of items in the lead up to Saturday and Sunday can be explored here.

The first of the Prince Rupert features is already up on the Rogers Hometown Hockey homepage, with a look at player agent Kevin Epp and his ties to the community.

Still to come before the festival opens tomorrow, is word from the organizing committee as to who are the winners of the Window Display competition, Prince Rupert's Super Fan and who will be the helpers to select the three stars of the Sabres/Oilers game for the national broadcast.

To put you in the mood for some hometown hockey, we direct you the Facebook page of the Prince Rupert Rampage who have a pictorial feature from talented Prince Rupert photographer Phuong Nguyen, his work provides a terrific view of the set up for the festival of the weekend and captures the expanse of the layout for the weekend ahead.

For the latest notes on Rogers Hometown Hockey in Prince Rupert see the homepage and Facebook page for the North Coast's weekend event.