Essa Eagles spend afternoon with Olympic Gold Medalist, NHL's Simon Gagné
by Wendy Soloduik

The Essa Eagles Giant Tiger Atom Rep minor hockey team spent an afternoon with Simon Gagné, Olympic Gold Medalist and Philadelphia Flyer at the Nottawasaga Inn's Centre Ice arena July 11th.

The team earned the opportunity to practice with Gagné after winning the Pringles Hockey Prints Challenge by collecting and submitting 1,739 Pringles UPC codes between August 2006 and February 2007. The entry of the contest was organized by a mother of a team member.

"I just thought the whole concept of the contest was appealing," said the organizing parent. "Friends and family members of the team really took an interest in helping the kids win, and we collected over 1,700 UPC codes in less than seven months."

Gagné spent most of the day with the 13 participating Eagles team members, including two hours on the ice in a skill sharpening clinic.

Following the ice-time, players and their families were invited to have lunch with Gagné, providing the curious 10 and 11 year-olds with the chance to ask questions as he signed their hockey cards.

Team members were also given gift bags which included a jersey, puck and water bottle, making for great autographing material for the lucky Eagles.

The Eagles' coach, Eric Schlosser said that there was quite a build up of excitement amongst the players and their parents prior to the event, leading to a lot of emails and phone calls.

"The kids have known since March and have been counting down the sleeps," said Schlosser. "It's been a long wait!"

During the practice, The Eagles players gave it their all and really took advantage of playing with the NHL icon.

"He's been really encouraging out there," said Schlosser on Gagné. "Their attention and effort is ten times more than in any practice I've ever ran!"