Members of Canada's Olympic Men's Hockey Team stand for the national anthem after winning gold in Vancouver. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

The City of Champions will once again take centre stage later this month when both of Canada’s gold medal-winning Olympic hockey teams will be live at Commonwealth Stadium for a very special event – For the Love of Country and For the Love of Hockey: Canada Celebrates Our National Heroes.

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This once-in-a-lifetime event will feature members of Canada’s Men’s Olympic Team who won gold in a thrilling overtime Olympic final, including captain Scott Niedermayer, and members of Canada’s Women’s Olympic Team who won a third-consecutive Olympic gold medal in Vancouver, including captain Hayley Wickenheiser. 

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team will also be honoured, having captured Canada’s first-ever gold medal at the IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship this past April.

For the Love of Country and For the Love of Hockey: Canada Celebrates Our National Heroes will be a special event and concert where members of Canada’s men’s and women’s 2010 Olympic gold medal-winning hockey teams will celebrate their accomplishments with a special salute to the members of Canada’s military and their families.

“The Hockey Canada Foundation is excited to be part of a great week in Edmonton at the end of June,” said Tom Bitove, chairman of the Hockey Canada Foundation board of directors. “We know that the City of Edmonton and all of Alberta are up to making this event that our Olympic and World champions and members of the military will never forget.”

“The men and women who serve our country inspire us through their sacrifice and service to defend, protect and to help others – whether in a natural disaster or in defending human rights and freedoms,” said Doug Goss, event chairman. “The men and women who play hockey – along with athletes in all sports – inspire us by what they achieve, and help us believe that we too can be the best at what we do and who want to be.  Together, our troops and our hockey teams show us we can do anything and anything is possible. Together, in different ways, they are our national heroes.”

The event will feature interviews with many of the key players on Canada’s gold medal-winning hockey teams, as well as performances by the Mike Plume Band, The Mudmen, and George Canyon, who, along with Crystal Shawanda, will lead a major tribute to Canada’s military with his song “Back in Your Arms Again” – a tribute to Canadian soldiers past and present.

The event is being held in conjunction with the Hockey Canada Foundation’s annual gala and golf tournament being held in Edmonton on June 28 and 29, featuring a gala dinner at the Marriott at River Cree Resort following the Canada Celebrates event on June 28 and celebrity golf tournament at the Blackhawk Golf Club and the Edmonton Petroleum Club on June 29.

“There are two things that best define our national spirit and bring all Canadians together as one – hockey and Canada’s military,” says Bob Nicholson, president and CEO of Hockey Canada. “When Canada’s Olympic gold medal-winning hockey teams gather in Edmonton on June 28 to celebrate their accomplishments, it is the perfect time to also recognize and celebrate the achievements and efforts of Canada’s military and the families who sacrifice and share their loved ones for the love of country.”

Proceeds from the Canada Celebrates event will go to the Hockey Canada Foundation, which supports minor hockey programs in Canada, and to the Canadian Heroes Fund, a charity that provides academic scholarship to the spouses and children of soldiers killed in combat.

Tickets for the event are only $10 each (plus applicable fees and taxes), based on open seating at Commonwealth Stadium, and are on sale now, online at Ticketmaster.ca, via phone at 780-451-8000 and at all Ticketmaster outlets.

Doors open at 4:00 p.m., entertainment begins at 4:30 p.m. and the show is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.