It's BACK! Hockey Day in Canada, 09.30.23
One of the best-ever PLAAY on-location events happened in November 2017, "Hockey Day in Canada" at Mancala Monk Board Game Cafe in Hamilton, ON. We held the third-annual "Commissioner's Surprise" Hockey Blast Tournament, and followed it up with some Canadian football action featuring the then-brand-new 4.0 Cold Snap game. In all 22 PLAAY gamers took part, four from the US, eighteen from Canada.
We're VERY excited to say that we're heading back to Canada to do it again! The 2023 edition of "Hockey Day in Canada" is set for Saturday, September 30th at Game Knight Games in Winnipeg, 10a to 4p. Join us on-site as we kick off the new hockey season with some card-stock hockey "thrills and spills" with the (not-yet-released, coming this fall) 2022-23 Pro Season cards for Hockey Blast!
If you're unfamiliar with Commissioner's Surprise tournament format, it works like this: we give every pro team a slot in this tournament, with each match-up drawn randomly. The first-round format has varied from year-to-year as the NHL has expanded. This year, we have 32 pro teams, which will perfectly generate a "Sweet Sixteen," "Elite Eight," "Final Four" and a championship game! YES!
This is the first time in four years that the Commissioner's Surprise Tournament will be played remotely. The 2016 tournament was played in Las Vegas, 2017 in Hamiton, 2018 in Pittsburgh and 2019 in Boston. Thanks to COVID, the last three tournaments have been played online. That's fun in it's own way, BUT we're super-excited to hit the road again for in-person, head-to-head hockey!
GameKnight Games is located at 519 Osborne Street Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3L2A9. 11a to 4p. Our plan is to arrive/get acquainted starting at 10a, play hockey from 11a to 2p, and then switch to Cold Snap/open gaming 2-4p. We'll put together a spontaneous plan for dinner after the event for those who are interested/available.
• If you're interested in attending, please let us know! (We will need to reserve sufficient table space). If you're thinking about traveling to Winnipeg for the event, we'll be staying at the Holiday Inn Winnipeg South, the (un-official) "official" event hotel! The hotel address is 1330 Pembina Hwy, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2B4. It’s just a short drive from there to the game store.
Questions? Let me know! Hope to see you in Winnipeg for Hockey Day in Canada (part TWO!)...