25 Years Of Hockey Day In Canada: Five Moments To Remember

Around the world, sports of all kinds have their own national holiday.

May 25 was recently proclaimed World Football Day by the United Nations. National Cricket Day is celebrated on June 23 across the United Kingdom. In the southern hemisphere, Brazil celebrates Capoeirista Day on Aug. 3 in honor of Brazil’s national tradition — the martial art of Capoeira. Rest assured that, in all of the fanfare, hockey gets its own North American spotlight.

Since 2000, Canada’s national broadcaster, CBC, has televised a celebration of hockey, known as Hockey Day In Canada. The annual program showcases hockey games at all levels, with interviews and panels, and the main feature being a stacked roster of games between Canadian NHL teams.

Last weekend, Canada celebrated Hockey Day In Canada for the 25th time. In the tradition of headquartering the broadcast in a hockey-minded town, the 2025 broadcast took place in Canmore, Alta.

But for Canadians, the day is more than a spotlighted series of professional games. Hockey Day In Canada has served as a vehicle of accessibility to the sport's happenings. It’s simultaneously a celebration of the country’s multiculturalism, culture and sports history.

Looking back on its 25 years, Hockey Day in Canada has had many highlight-worthy moments, shining a light on hockey’s unifying nature. Here are some of them.

Hockey Day In Canada Broadcast In Other Languages

CBC’s Hockey Day In Canada has consistently established itself as an honest reflection of the hockey community. In 2007, the scheduled programming for Hockey Day In Canada included a game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks, entirely in Italian. The language was the fourth-most popular language in Canada at the time, with 660,000 Canadians speaking it as their first language, adding a historical bandwidth of accessibility to Canada’s game.

This precedent brought forth action from the CBC to broadcast games in Inuktitut – an Inuit language spoken by over 40,000 Canadians. Today, the celebratory broadcast can be viewed in Tagalog, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Cree, Hindi and Punjabi.

Hayley Wickenheiser’s 2004 Appearance

In 2004, CBC’s Hockey Day In Canada broadcast landed in Shaunavon, Sask., the hometown of Canadian women's hockey legend, Hayley Wickenheiser. She acted as a host of the 15-hour broadcast, along with fellow Shaunavon natives and former NHLers Shaun Van Allen and Rhett Warrener. Annual host Ron MacLean looked back on the memory fondly in an interview with Sportsnet, acknowledging Wickenheiser’s influence on women in hockey. “By then she was one of our country’s most decorated athletes, and she was also blazing the trail,” MacLean said.

Ron MacLean In Iqaluit

In a humorous segment during the 2003 broadcast of Hockey Day In Canada, former Toronto Maple Leaf Lanny McDonald brought the Stanley Cup into the frame via a dog sled. With the weather below -20 C, CBC camera equipment continuously froze and malfunctioned, causing the broadcast to experience delays, all while MacLean’s nose was the sole part of him visible under his polar gear.

QMJHL's 2015 Cameo

With Sportsnet – a broadcaster of Hockey Day In Canada – having the rights to broadcast the CHL, the network uniquely showcased a primetime game between the Halifax Mooseheads and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL. This was an unprecedented screening that was part of Sportsnet’s efforts to familiarize audiences with the CHL ahead of the then-Erie Otters captain Connor McDavid’s draft year. The Mooseheads beat the Eagles 3-1.

Leafs Vs. Canucks 2010

With Canada’s eyes on them, the Toronto Maple Leafs attempted to redeem their slow start to the 2009-10 NHL season in the new year. The Leafs began the season with an eight-game losing streak, sitting at the bottom of divisional and conference standings all season, even with the team’s newest addition of Nazem Kadri. The Canucks represented Toronto’s eighth loss of the season. The Leafs didn’t play the West Coast team again until Hockey Day In Canada 2010 on Jan. 30. After a valiant effort from Phil Kessel, the Leafs were bested by multi-point games from Daniel and Henrik Sedin, resulting in a 5-3 loss and another nail in the coffin of Toronto’s playoff hopes.

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