After a long wait, the day finally dawned on us; TendyFest. Our annual goalie demo day was here, and wow, was it one to remember. The sun was shining, and the birds were chirping as the 5-tonne truck full of gear rolled up to the front doors of the venue. The Hockey Shop crew was ready to start setting up the day. Brad, one of your store managers, was pumped to carry 80+ bags of gear from the truck to trade show floor. He was running on a 120-day streak of finishing his Apple Watch activity rings, and this would be a great start. I think I saw him carrying five hockey bags at one point. Beast mode.
It’s a sweet set up at 8 Rinks in Burnaby. Perfect for a goalie demo day. They have an indoor turf soccer field directly beside the ice rink. Every goalie brand under the sun sets up a booth on the turf field with demo gear to check out and supplier reps available to answer questions. You can tour the trade show floor, check out the gear, and then head over to test the gear on ice.
While THS staff worked to get all the gear set up on the field, suppliers slowly started to roll in to set up their tables. Fast forward to 10:30 am, the line was now wrapping around the parking lot, so we decided to let some people in the building before letting the flood gates open at 11:00 am.
Cam Matwiv does a terrific job organizing this event each year. But I’m 99% sure he only does it so that he can stand on the bench in front of over 500 goalies and yell “Welcome to TENDYFEST!” It’s his big moment. In his mind, he’s a rock star. The crowd cheers as Cam comes back down to Earth and the big day gets going.
For those that have never attended, it truly is a special experience for goalies. The trade show alone is a blast. It’s a chance to meet celebrity goalies, interact directly with suppliers, talk to elite goalie school coaches, and check out all the gear and some of the coolest hockey memorabilia from the Ultimate Hockey Fan Cave.
Moments before Cam’s opening ceremony, the one and only Shannon Szabados entered the building with not one, but all THREE of her Olympic medals she earned playing for Team Canada. Shannon is a true class act. She positioned herself at the Warrior booth all day signing autographs and taking pictures with everyone. She made a lot of people’s days that for sure.
At the Vaughn booth, a bonafide NHL starting goalie. Martin Jones of the San Jose Sharks stopped by to talk gear, sign autographs, and take photos. We’re pretty sure Shane tried to sneak into every single photo with Jonesy, but he claims he was just managing the line. Either way, it was a pleasure having Martin at the event.
Last but not least. The most famous beer league Youtube celebrity goalie at TendyFest, Kan Van Gate, arrived at the rink and was turning heads. Almost everyone knows Kane at this point, but those that didn’t were able to figure out he was a big deal pretty quick. When you have a camera man following you around the rink and on the ice, people take note. Kane was stopping everything in his new 2S Pro set from Bauer.
Attendees were able to demo pads and attend a goalie clinic at the same time. As the saying goes, a picture says 1000 words – so we tried to capture as many great moments as we could. With 550+ people in attendance, you could say there were a few happy goalies! A very sincere thanks to all our suppliers, special guests, mask painters, and many more that helped us put on another unforgettable event.
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