MacLean shares his love for Lacombe ahead of Hometown Hockey visit

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MacLean says this tour stop will be a special one for him as it’s so close to home.

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“Lacombe, I have so many great childhood memories,” he explains. “There’s a little campground on Highway 2A where the Red Deer River has a tributary just below Blackfalds and we used to hang out there on weekends and that’s where I learned to get by on no sleep. We’re not going to get a lot this weekend because obviously Hockey Night in Canada is in Toronto Saturday night and then take the flight out to Calgary, then on to Lacombe.”

MacLean adds the weekend will also be a great chance for him to reminisce about what the Sutter family has meant to him over the years.

“Obviously, Brian’s there coaching the senior game. Connie and Brent are a big part of my life growing up and my belief system, and Darryl and his wife Wanda and their boy Christopher [are] going to join us for the telecast, and also Richie Sutter. The Sutters are the ones that I got to see play for the Rustlers and who kind of gave me the idea that if you could come from Viking and play for Cec Swanson or whomever in Red Deer and make it to the NHL and be dominant like they were, well then there’s a chance for all of us,”

Set up for the national event began in downtown Lacombe on Thursday and continues Friday in advance of the Saturday start at noon. Officials say the festival grounds occupy 50 Street from 50 Avenue to 51 Avenue, 50 Avenue from Highway 2A to 51 Street and the northern most section on 49C Avenue.

This means visitors can expect the area to be closed to traffic and detours in place. Numerous public parking lots are in the area of the festival site, with as many as 10,000 people anticipated at the event over the course of its two days.

Festival hours run from 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Saturday and from 9:00 a.m. until the end of the viewing party Sunday.

For more details, visit the City of Lacombe website or the Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour Facebook page.