Fifty years ago a group of young men from Belleville travelled to Prague, Czechoslovakia to represent Canada at the World Hockey Championships.
Against stacked odds - including a two month stretch away from home, 20 exhibition games in about as many days and a roster of players that sportswriters in Canada called a bunch of has-beens - they won the tournament and retained Canada's claim as the top hockey playing nation in the world.
Just months after watching Canada's world junior squad win a fifth straight gold medal, it's fitting that the Belleville Sports Hall of Fame will honour the McFarlands on the occaision of the 50th anniversary of their championship win. Their play helped staked Canada's claim as the hockey superpower.
This Saturday, the team will be honoured at the Empire Theatre in Belleville with the official premiere of a new video documentary by Picton native Peter Lockyear and the launch of a book that I wrote about the McFarlands Allan Cup win in 1958 and their World Championship victory in 1959.
If you are a hockey fan or just proud to say that you are from Belleville, hopefully you will come out and show your support of their accomplishments.
Tickets and information are available online at http://www.bellevillemcfarlands.ca/. Hope to see you there.
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