It's a peculiar business, this major junior hockey.
After toiling in relative obscurity for five years, the Edmonton Oil Kings have made it to the Canadian Hockey League finals.
But are they playing home games in a sold-out Rexall Place?
Nope. The Memorial Cup finals consists of a four-team tournament, the play-off champions of the Western, Ontario and Quebec hockey leagues plus the host team.
It's all happening in Shawinigan, Quebec.
Each major junior hockey team is a business in which the stars — the best 16-to-20 year-old hockey players in the country other than those in the NHL — do not get paid.
Their expenses are covered. They receive a weekly allowance, from a rookie's $100 to between $300 to $400 for three "over-age" 20-year-olds.
I'm not aware of any other team sport in North America where for-profit businesses are built around teenage athletes.
A third-world child labour activist could argue that major junior hockey club owners exploit children. But they wouldn't ...
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Here’s the kicker.
Not only is the Wildflower Grill a contender as the top restaurant in town.
Not only is the Wildflower Grill, south of Jasper on 107 Street, a pleasure to dine in.
Not only does executive chef Nathan Bye insist on nothing but the best leaving his kitchen.
It doesn’t have to be expensive!
There’s a huge surprise on the Wildflower Grill’s menu.
It’s called “lighter fare” in between the “small bites” and the “mains.”
Lighter Fare offers 12 delicious, succulent, beautifully cooked dishes ranging in price from $12 to $18.
They are perfect for lighter appetites — i.e. what we should all eat if we stayed within a daily calorie intake that doesn’t encourage the gaining of a pound a month.
OK, as a reviewer, I had to try a “main” — the mesquite grilled salmon medallions at $36 to follow my beef carpaccio appetizer.
The ladies opted for the lighter fare — a Canadian West ...
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