Two Cochrane icons team up tonight at the Tim Horton Event Centre, as the Crunch throw their support behind the Polar Bear Habitat’s fight for survival.
Team owner, coach and general manager Ryan Leonard says doors open at 5:15pm for the 7:00pm game against the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners.
“We’ll have one area set up with 150 tickets and we’ll be selling those and that way it covers the cost of our referees and all of our game cost,” he explains. “And once that’s done, we let the Polar Bear Habitat take over from there, and they can sell the rest of the tickets for the night.”
Leonard is hoping for 500 or 600 fans.
One fan posted a suggestion on the Crunch Facebook page, that season ticket holders leave them at home tonight and pay to get in, as a show of support for the Habitat.
“We’re hoping people come out and support it,” Leonard comments. “At the same time, we’re hoping we can try to attract some new people to come and get involved with Crunch hockey, because this is a crucial year for the Crunch, with the contract (with the municipality) coming up the end of April.”
One hopeful sign for tonight: at noon hour, there were only four out of 40 seats left in the Bears Den VIP section.