On January 25-26, the Greater Toronto Hockey League celebrated its community with the eighth annual I Play in the G Festival at Scotiabank Pond. The weekend-long festival highlighted all the GTHL community has to offer, from various activations throughout the facility, to everything from accessible forms of hockey, and house league, select, ‘A,’ ‘AA,’ and ‘AAA’ games on-ice.
A special aspect of the I Play in the G Festival is providing access to engaging activations, giveaways, prizes, and more for all attendees to enjoy. The GTHL’s partner presence made this possible, offering a variety of exciting experiences:
- Canadian Blind Hockey hosted a great on-ice battle
- Gatorade challenged attendees to put their hardest shot to test
- Esso provided free gas cards
- We Got Game! brought a virtual face-off circle experience
- LiveBarn showcased its latest features
In addition, the GTHL organized a stick-handling competition, with participants receiving their very own Hockey Canada jersey, and those with the top scores receiving special prize packages.
“The GTHL is proud to celebrate our community with the I Play in the G Festival, bringing together players, families, and partners in a weekend focusing on the love of the game,” Scott Oakman, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the GTHL, said. “We are very grateful to our partners for supporting the GTHL in providing exciting experiences for our participants, both on and off the ice.”
Helping to create the festival’s atmosphere, a special thank you goes out to the following groups for joining the GTHL:
- Canadian Blind Hockey
- Canadian Cancer Society
- Gatorade
- Gitch Sportswear
- Imperial Oil (Esso)
- LiveBarn
- Northern Raised
- Their Opportunity
- Variety Village
- We Got Game!
- Yorkshire Valley Farms
The GTHL also held its second annual Indigenous Equipment Drive in support of Indigenous youth in Ontario. The drive was a great success, bringing in 115 full hockey bags and 132 hockey sticks. Special mentions go out to Owen from the Port Credit Hockey Association, as well as Nico and the North Toronto Hockey Association for significant contributions donated. To read more on the Indigenous Equipment Drive, click here.
The 23rd annual Under-18 All-Star Festival fuelled by Gatorade was also a shining element of the weekend, with ‘A,’ ‘AA,’ and ‘AAA’ All-Stars all facing off on January 25. Team Blue came out with the trophy in all three games, with the ‘A’ All-Stars kicking things off with an exciting, high-scoring 10-7 final in the morning. The ‘AA’ All-Stars kept the momentum going with a 7-2 final, while the ‘AAA’ All-Stars capped off the day’s festivities with an intense battle, ending in a 3-2 overtime result.
RECAPS & GALLERIES:
- U18 ‘A’ All-Star Game – RECAP | GALLERY
- U18 ‘AA’ All-Star Game – RECAP | GALLERY
- U18 ‘AAA’ All-Star Game – RECAP | GALLERY
A variety of ages and skill added to the action on the ice throughout the weekend, including: CDP, the North York Hockey League (NYHL), the Mississauga Hockey League (MHL), para hockey, and GTHL ‘A,’ ‘AA,’ and ‘AAA’ divisions.
To view photos from the 2025 I Play in the G Festival, click here.
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