EDMONTON -- Mother Nature is proving to be the toughest opponent for a travelling hockey team from Australia in Alberta.
First, there’s a 60 degree temperature drop between Edmonton and Adelaide.
And then, something foreign to all of the Kaurna Boomerangs players: Snow.
“I’ve never seen it before,” Boomerangs captain Michael Burgoyne told CTV Morning Live Edmonton.
The 22-year old is a member of Australia’s first Indigenous hockey team, formed by his older brother and a friend in 2017.
The Boomerangs are part of the Ice Factor program, designed to get disadvantaged kids into the game.
“It’s just more about helping the younger kids who are troubled, going through the youth system and stuff,” said Burgoyne. “I’m on the team as a leader, as well as a few other guys.”
After arriving in Edmonton on Friday, the team skated at Rogers Place and toured the Oilers dressing room.
On Sunday, the boys laced up for an outdoor skate on the Ottewell community rink.
“It was pretty cold,” Burgoyne said. “I didn’t spend as much time out there as all the other guys, I couldn’t handle it as good as they could.”
The Boomerangs will visit Maskwacis on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday they will be in Calling Lake.
On Friday, they’ll tour Amiskwaciy Academy.
The trip wraps up with tickets to the Oil Kings game on Friday and the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.
The team flies back to Australia on Sunday.
