Ukrainian men's hockey team to face Bisons in charity game

The Ukrainian players have enjoyed the tour, playing in front of packed arenas across Western Canada. (Source: Gary Robson, CTV News)

The Ukrainian national U25 men's hockey team is in Winnipeg this weekend, preparing for a charity game against the University of Manitoba Bisons to raise money for the war-torn country's national hockey program.

The "Hockey Can't Stop" tour has traveled across western Canada, pitting Ukraine's best young hockey players against local university teams. The tour began Dec. 30 in Saskatoon before moving on to games last week in Calgary and Edmonton.

"From the beginning of the war, we at the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine never stopped – even for one day – our activity," said Aleksandra Slatvytska, Executive Director for the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine (IHFU) and head of the tour. "We didn’t expect that this horrible, terrible war can be on our land."

She said when the war started, they received a lot of support from other countries' national hockey organizations. But as the war continued, so did the need for help.

"We need support, we need financial support to continue to support our national teams and to support our kids," said Slatvytska.

She added their organization currently receives no funding from the Ukrainian government.

"We created the Ukrainian Hockey Dream Foundation … this foundation tries to fundraise money to help our kids who are still in Ukraine," said Slatvytska. "We hope to fundraise enough money to preserve ice hockey venue infrastructure."

She said close to 50 per cent of indoor ice rinks in Ukraine have been destroyed in the war.

The Ukrainian players have enjoyed the tour, playing in front of packed arenas across Western Canada. "This is an amazing experience. Really nice arenas. A lot of fans," said forward Gleb Krivoshapkin.

The Bisons host the Ukrainian team Monday at Canada Life Centre, puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. Ticket sales are being directed to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation.

The Hoosli Ukrainian Male Chorus will be singing the national anthems prior to puck drop.