Gabe Vilardi, Mason McTavish and Sam Isbell were on hand to sign autographs for fans to mark the retailer's official arrival in the Limestone City.
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Limestone City has long been considered a hockey town, claiming to be the birthplace of the sport and having produced local heroes such as Kirk Muller, Don Cherry, Doug Gilmore and Jayna Hefford.
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It is also home to the original Hockey Hall of Fame, the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs, and is now home to one of 20 Pro Hockey Life (PHL) stores across the country.
PHL highlighted its presence in Kingston with a weekend-long grand opening that featured activities, giveaways and appearances from National Hockey League stars Gabe Vilardi and Mason McTavish, and Professional Women's Hockey League star Sam Isbell.
The retailer, a subsidiary of Canadian Tire Corporation, which acquired the brand in 2012, showed off its state-of-the-art facility, where curious onlookers and guests lined up to check out the activities and meet their heroes.
Michael Theorin, vice president of store operations for PHL, which is holding its fourth consecutive grand opening, said the brand is specific to hockey.
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“This is truly a hockey specialty store,” he said at the opening, which follows similar stores opening in Sudbury, Barrie and London earlier this month. “There's no other store of this size, 22,000 square feet, in Canada. We cater to professionals and high-level players, but we cater to any player. We think hockey is for everyone.”
The store will feature a wide range of equipment, apparel and accessories from top brands, as well as a Shooting Zone where players can try on new sticks in-store, a Bauer Fit Lab, a scanning station that identifies an athlete's foot type and provides personalized orthotic and skate recommendations, a Fitting Center where equipment can be tried on and a Pro Shop.
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The special guests, especially Kingston native and former Kingston Frontenacs star Bilardi, had long lines of fans waiting to sign autographs and take selfies.
“PHL is a subsidiary of Canadian Tire Corporation, so it's like a corporate family,” says Michelle Jones, brand communications specialist at Canadian Tire Corp. “For example, last weekend Natalie Spooner made an appearance in London as one of our Canadian Tire partner athletes. Gabe is here because he's friends with the general manager here, so the general manager asked him to come too. Other appearances are through partners.”
Theorin's face lit up as he watched Bilardi interact with enthusiastic fans.
“It's great to have Gabe here tonight. He's a local boy who's made it to the NHL and it's rewarding to be able to give back to the community. It's really fun to see all the kids having fun.”
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Bilardi, who spends the off-season in Kingston, said the store is a great resource for local hockey players.
“It's great that there's a pro hockey life in Kingston. As a kid I always went to Toronto for the pro hockey life, so it's really great that there's a pro hockey life in Kingston,” he said.
Bilardi also spoke about the importance of giving back, recalling standing in line to meet his hockey heroes as a child.
“It makes you humble,” he said. “I remember when I was little, going to Frontenacs games and getting autographs and stuff like that and just being amazed. I try to do the same thing, especially with kids. It's fun. It makes you realize how lucky you are and that you have to use the position you're in to give back.”
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Isbell, who plays for PWHL's Ottawa, said she is happy to be in Kingston, where the legendary Hefford blazed the trail for women's hockey that she and other players have followed.
“Visibility is important, especially for women in sports,” Isbell said as she signed autographs in the parking lot and watched hockey stars take shots. “Not a lot of people grow up with women in sports to look up to, so I think it's important for this generation to have someone they can aspire to be one day. It's great to come out here and see little girls and even little boys saying they want to come here and play. It's great to see people wanting to come to next year's game.”
PHL Kingston is located at 616 Gardiners Rd.
janmurphy@postmedia.com
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