Sunday, March 2, 1997
DAWSON CITY, Yukon -- Decked out in a parka, snowshoes and
brandishing a hockey stick, Dawson City Oldtimer Kevin Anderson
let out a rallying cry as his team began their odyssey to Ottawa
yesterday.
"Bring on Brad Marsh!" he screamed, a huge smile on his face.
With a crowd of 150 cheering them on in the centre of town,
the 20 players finally hit the trail to re-enact the Dawson City
Golden Nuggets' famed 1905 Stanley Cup trek.
In the 1997 version, the oldtimers will retrace the Nuggets'
trail by dogsled, snowmobile, ferry and train to play the Ottawa
Senators Alumni on March 23 at the Corel Centre. (For the record
Dawson lost both 1905 games against the Ottawa Silver Seven, 9-2
and 23-2.)
"I'm ready to go!" cried organizer Pat Hogan moments before he
zoomed away on his snowmobile - with the rest of the team and
the Sun's Earl McRae following right behind.
The group headed out of Dawson at 10 a.m. in -24C temperatures
and were led by Anderson and fellow Dawson player John Flynn,
who both ran through the streets in snowshoes. One by one, the
players raced past a gauntlet of cheering spectators. "Give them
hell, guys!" screamed one Dawsonite.
The players left on snowmobiles and mountain bikes but several
switched to dogsleds just outside city limits, along the banks
of the frozen Yukon River.
"There is a lot of pride right here today," said onlooker Chuck
Margeson, 55. "Lots of people came out, and we believe in this."
The Dawson team, McRae and company will spend nine days
travelling through the backwoods of the Yukon, camping in tents
for six nights, until they arrive in Whitehorse. But despite the
gruelling journey, the players are pumped.
"It's going to be a Goliath story," said Anderson, 38. "We're
going up against guys we have no right to beat and we are going
to beat them."
Well-wisher Marco Jioeamoli said he's proud of the team, but
thinks the rematch won't differ much from the poundings the
Dawson team suffered in 1905.
They might not win, he conceded - "but who cares about that?"