Halifax did a brand reveal within the Halifax Convention Centre in front of hundreds of local lacrosse teams, players and fans to reveal the Thunderbirds as the city’s new national lacrosse team back in February of this year.
The yet-to-be-formed squad was announced last September, with the Rochester Knighthawks relocating to Halifax to become the league’s fifth Canadian franchise.
The NLL has four Canadian teams in Toronto, Saskatoon, Calgary and Vancouver out of 11 franchises.
Out of this initiative, the Thunderbirds lacrosse family planned a canoe journey that began on Thursday, July 11, at McKenzie Creek in Six Nations, Ontario, with it’s ultimate destination to be in the Halifax Harbour.
Starting the journey out with a traditional wooden lacrosse stick game, eight paddlers took two canoes and one kayak to begin the venture.
The route will travel on all the great waterways en route to Halifax from McKenzie Creek, as the journey will travel through the Grand River, Lake Erie, Welland Canal, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway. This leg of the journey will end in Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec.
From Riviere-du-Loup, there will be an overland trek to Lac Temiscouata, Quebec, where the canoe portion of the journey will resume to Fredericton New Brunswick travelling on the Saint-John River to the final crossing to Digby, Nova Scotia, bringing the Creator’s Games while carrying the torch and moving the fire to its new home arriving in Halifax early September.
Along the journey, Thunderbirds players, staff, and coaches will each give a hand in carrying the symbolic torch, as a gesture of goodwill and gift to the Mi’kmaq community. Owner, Curt Styres, will be bringing the Haudenosaunee Legacy and the Creators Game to the east for the first national playing experience, at the home of the Mi’kmaq people of Nova Scotia.
The Thunderbirds will begin play at the Scotiabank Centre in December 2019. They’re slated to be the city’s second professional sports team to have an inaugural season this year, with the HFX Wanderers soccer team who kicked off their franchise in May.
For updates, photos and videos as the canoe journey unfolds, follow @HFXthunderbirds on social media, as well as visiting HalifaxThunderbirds.com. For more information or media requests, please contact the Thunderbirds at Dana@HalifaxThunderbirds.com or 860-987-2344.
