This is one of my favourite highlight shots from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games with Geoff Molson, seventh generation of our founding brewery family, leading Canada’s Women’s Hockey team and everyone at Molson Canadian Hockey House in our national anthem. Oh Canada ! Man the house was rockin that night. Cheers @MolsonFerg
For Molson Coors, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games will stand out as a Gold Medal achievement in the history of our company. It has been a fantastic, unforgettable experience for the entire team that has been involved. The culmination was seeing the heart stopping Men’s Hockey Gold Medal games yesterday at Hockey House and the closing ceremonies of the 21st Winter Olympics—a historic time for Vancouver, for Canada and Molson Coors. For me, these past two weeks have been an overwhelming experience. It was a dream come true to be here at the Olympics, and to be up close and personal with our Athletes, see them perform, celebrate their medals and lastly see Canada’s both women’s and men’s team win the Gold. We are proud of our final medal count; 14 Gold, a record in Winter Games and a final count of 26 medals at these Games, placing us third overall in country ranking – what a performance from our athletes. The closing ceremonies for the 21st Winter Olympics were so moving, in this time of turmoil in the world, it gives you hope for the future to see how the people of different nations can come together. It was an historic and unforgettable time for Vancouver, for Canadians and for Molson Coors, and I’m thankful to have been part of it. I want to thank all our Roving Reporters and the entire team at Molson Coors who made this possible. In this episode we’re bringing you the hype at Molson Canadian Hockey house over the week-end, which culminated with the dramatic overtime win of our Men’s Canadian Hockey team yesterday. We’re also bringing you interviews with Dave Perkins, President of Molson Coors Canada and Mark Hunter, President of Molson Coors UK about our activations and how we contributed to the success of these phenomenal 21st Olympic Winter Games.
Cheers to great Winter Olympics!
To watch all Molson Coors #van2010 behind the scenes videos – Molson Blog Youtube
Pour Molson Coors, les Jeux olympiques d’hiver de 2010 à Vancouver symboliseront dorénavant une réalisation digne d’une médaille d’or dans les annales de notre Société. Cet événement s’est avéré une expérience fantastique et inoubliable pour toute l’équipe qui y a participé. Les deux points culminants des Jeux ont certainement été l’incroyable partie vue en direct à la Maison du hockey qui a valu à l’équipe de hockey masculine une médaille d’or ainsi que les cérémonies de clôture des 21èmes Jeux olympiques d’hiver, un moment historique pour Vancouver, pour le Canada et pour Molson Coors. Les deux dernières semaines ont été pour moi une expérience qui dépasse l’entendement. Pouvoir assister aux Jeux, avoir un contact personnel avec nos athlètes, les voir en pleine action et célébrer leurs médailles, et enfin voir les équipes féminine et masculine de hockey du Canada remporter la médaille d’or, tout cela était comme un rêve devenu réalité. Nous sommes fiers du nombre de médailles remportées par nos athlètes, 26 en tout, ce qui place le Canada au troisième rang parmi tous les pays participants, sans compter que 14 de ces médailles sont des médailles d’or, un record dans l’histoire des Jeux olympiques d’hiver. Nos athlètes se sont véritablement surpassés. Les cérémonies de clôture de ces 21èmes Jeux olympiques d’hiver étaient empreintes d’émotion et, parmi toute la confusion qui règne actuellement à travers le monde, nous ont redonné confiance en l’avenir en nous donnant un aperçu de la synergie qui peut exister entre les peuples de différentes nations. C’était un moment historique et mémorable pour Vancouver, pour tous les Canadiens et pour Molson Coors, et je suis très heureux d’avoir pu y prendre part. Je tiens à remercier tous nos reporters sur le terrain et toute l’équipe de Molson Coors qui ont contribué à la réalisation de cet événement. Dans l’épisode d’aujourd’hui, nous vous offrons l’ambiance électrisante qui a animé la Maison du hockey de Molson Canadian au cours du week-end, lequel s’est terminé hier avec la spectaculaire victoire en prolongation de notre équipe masculine de hockey. Nous vous proposons aussi des entrevues avec le président de Molson Coors Canada, Dave Perkins, et le président Molson Coors Royaume-Uni, Mark Hunter, qui nous entretiennent de nos activations et de la façon dont nous avons contribué à la réussite de ces remarquables 21èmes Jeux olympiques d’hiver.
Santé à de super Jeux olympiques d’hiver!
Let’s tweet some hockey love for Team Canada!
In the spirit of the Molson Canadian Hockey House in Vancvouer (#mchh), we’ve decided to host 7 local Hockey House tweetups across Canada during the 2010 Winter Games! Come cheer, tweet and have a pint with the Molson Coors Canada twitter team as we watch TEAM CANADA shoot towards Gold!
Where we’ll be over the next two weeks:
Tweet the Molson twitter representative for the location near you to find out details! Space is limited, so tweet fast! Official Team Canada Hockey jerseys, sampling and more surprises – “Our Hockey House is your Hockey House, so invite your friends and bring an appetite for the great times to come. Cheers!”
Last week, I had the pleasure to accompany in Moncton one of our Canadian athletes Jean Labonte. Jean is a Paralympian and Captain of the Canadian Sledge Hockey Team. As an official supplier to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, as well as a sponsor for the Paralympics, we introduced the Fund a Champion campaigna few months ago and committed up to $20,000 each to 10 athletes from across Canada, to help them close the competitive gap in their respective sports heading into the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. One of those athletes is Jean Labonté and he was our guest for this two day visit in Moncton. An important part of the program is to engage Molson Coors employees with Canadian athletes in the months leading up to the Vancouver Games next winter. So it was the primary reason why Jean was in Moncton, but while in town we took the opportunity to raise awareness of the upcoming Olympics and Paralympics and demonstrate the sport of sledge hockey. As part of Jean’s visit, Molson Coors also made a $5,000 donation to the Moncton Wheelchair Sports Association to help support sports activities for the physically disabled in the area.
So Jean’s visit was a busy one indeed. It began on Wednesday afternoon with a private tour of our brewery in Moncton lead by its brew master, David Hamel. The visit was followed by a “meet & greet” with all of the Moncton employees in the Brewery’s hospitality room. Jean had the opportunity to discuss with them about the life and preparation of an athlete in the months leading to the Games and talk about Sledge Hockey. Then we went on to dinner where we hosted Jean and some of our key local stakeholders and business partners. Amongst the many guests present George Leblanc, Mayor of Moncton and Clarence Sweetland, the Riverview Mayor. After dinner Jean and I went for a beer at one of our good customers in Moncton where he and I got to know each other a little more and share some good laughs.
On Thursday morning, we gathered at the University of Moncton arena to present our $ 5,000 donation to the Moncton Wheelchair Sports Association which Jean and Steve Dykeman, Molson Coors Regional Sales Manager for N.B. & P.E.I. presented to its President Peter Cameron. Peter was not only happy to receive our donation but also to meet Jean and discuss with him about sledge hockey. That was an important discussion since the Association plans start their own sledge hockey team.
Left; Jean Labonté and Steve Dykeman, Molson Coors Regional Sales Manager N.B. & P.E.I. presented Peter Cameron (center) $ 5000 donation to the Moncton Wheelchair Sports Association
Following the usual photo op, we arranged for the media, we were joined by some of Molson Coors sales representatives and players of “les “Aigles Bleus” the men and women’suniversity hockey team. It was for all a first try at playing hockey on a sledge and no matter if you were young, old, athletic or not so much, it proved to be quite challenging at first. But with Jean’s advice and coaching all were able to quickly get the hang of it and maneuver their sledges well enough to engage in a friendly game. I myself got on the ice and experienced sledge hockey…In my short shift I managed to score a goal, not a “highlight reel candidate” but still… Then I quickly came to the conclusion that I couldn’t keep up the pace with Jean and the younger athletes on the ice, so I opted to stick to my defensive zone and guard our team’s goal.
Jean and players of the “Aigles Bleus” men and women’s université de Moncton hockey team getting ready for face off in presence of the local media.
Game on!
Molson Coors sales representatives and players of the “Aigles Bleus” had a great time playing a sldge hockey game with Jean Labonté
It was a whirlwind visit but all who met him were very pleased with his visit and Jean was very pleased with the hospitality he received in Moncton. Some news fans who might be in attendance cheering for Jean and his teammates at the upcoming World Sledge Hockey Challenge in nearby Charlottetown, Nov 17-21. I sure am now a fan of our sledge hockey team and plan to follow them closely all the way to the Games. I told Jean I was going to be at the final gold medal game of the Sledge Hockey in Vancouver on Saturday March 20, 2010 and I semi-jokingly turned back to him and asked if he would be there? I have no doubt that he and the entire team is committed to do whatever it takes to be there…
Cheers to our Canadian Sledge Hockey Team!
Sebastien – follow me on Twitter @MolsonSeb
Thanks to our latest guest blogger, Jennifer Botterill! Jennifer is a member of Team Canada, Olympic and World Champion…we appreciate her taking the time to update us on her Olympic training. Cheers, Tonia
It’s been a very motivating week here in Calgary for all of us with the National team! After moving early August to train full time in preparation for Vancouver 2010, our Olympic training is in full swing. We have had a rather demanding few weeks. Hockey Canada has put us through some pretty intense training, but I think we’ve all improved because of it.
After 3 weeks that included fitness testing, on ice practices, off ice training, nutrition and sport psychology meetings, and Olympic meetings we have arrived at the last full week of August! In order to celebrate, it was nice of the sledge hockey team to join us for some training out west. It just so happened there was another small scale event happening… right, the Men’s Olympic team camp!
This week started out pretty tough with our on ice Gatorade sweat testing. The coaches decided this would be a great time to have one of the toughest practices of the year. We could not catch our breath for an hour, but the Gatorade crew was thrilled as they got great sweat samples from us. So glad we could please! Have a look at Tessa Bonhomme and I (below) – if you look closely enough you can see our sweat testing patches in the middle of our foreheads. This was us getting ready for Gatorade pre practice. This is one of our token moves… we refer to this as our ‘split squat cely’.
Hockey Canada organized a couple of special days for all three teams. We had a team photo with our team, the sledge hockey team, and the men’s team taken at the Saddldome on Wednesday. We also had a fun team skate there that day. Our trainer, Doug, took a shot of the group from the back – if you look closely you can see a few of us in front of the men’s team. A great dinner for the Hockey Canada Foundation was later that evening.
Thursday evening was also incredible as we were fortunate enough to attend the Men’s Red/White scrimmage game. We walked into the Saddledome and the atmosphere was amazing!! Everyone dressed in red and white… and I most certainly got chills when our national anthem was sung. It was a thrill to watch so many tremendous hockey players on the ice at the same time. I think we all left feeling more proud than ever to be Canadian, and more motivated than ever to be our best.
There are a few pictures from the game:
An action shot during the game
Billy Bridges (one of Molson’s athletes from the sledge hockey team) and I.
Men’s team saluting the crowd at the end of the exciting game – that concluded with a spectacular shootout.
Needless to say, we are really looking forward to the next few months of training! We are off to Vancouver this week for a pre Olympic tournament… should be a lot of fun as part of our journey!
Will be great to share more experiences along they way,
Jennifer
I had an opportunity to chat with our President and CEO, Kevin Boyce, just prior to the holidays. We asked if he would like to write a blog post related to our official supplier status for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic games. He worked with Tonia and I on creating this message and we are delighted to post it on his behalf. Kevin looks forward to reviewing your responses and Tonia will make sure that we get back to you in a timely manner…over to Kevin…
(Voir en français ci-après)
I am delighted to post this blog today formally announcing that Molson will be the official beer supplier to Canada’s Games in Vancouver in 2010. Molson is proud to play our part in celebrating with Canadians leading up to and including the games. It is a proud moment for all of our employees, customers and suppliers to be hosting this world event in British Columbia and with Canadians from coast to coast to coast. No doubt you will see that pride showing through in the videos accompanying this post.
Molson will be supporting a number of initiatives leading up to the games through various employee and brand activities. Please join with us in supporting the games and Team Canada as we count down to February 12, 2010 in Vancouver. We look forward to playing our part to make this a truly memorable event for all Canadians.
Our social media team will be highlighting a number of our activities right here on our Molson Community Blog in the weeks and months to follow (Thanks to Tonia for inserting the links for me in this post!).
Cheers,
Kevin Boyce
(Traduction intégrale du message original de Kevin en anglais ici-haut)
Je suis ravi de profiter aujourd’hui de notre blogue communautaire pour vous annoncer formellement que Molson sera le fournisseur officiel de bière des Jeux d’hiver de Vancouver 2010. Molson est fière de faire sa part dans les célébrations qui précéderont et entoureront les Jeux. Tous nos employés, clients et fournisseurs d’un océan à l’autre sont fiers d’accueillir le monde en Colombie-Britannique dans le cadre de ce grand événement planétaire — une fierté qui ne fait d’ailleurs aucun doute dans les vidéos qui accompagnent le présent message.
Molson organisera de nombreuses activités centrées sur ses employés et sur ses marques d’ici le grand jour de l’ouverture des Jeux. Je vous invite donc à vous joindre à nous pour exprimer votre appui au Comité organisateur ainsi qu’à l’équipe olympique canadienne pendant le décompte vers l’ouverture officielle, qui aura lieu le 12 février 2010 à Vancouver. Nous sommes impatients de faire notre part pour faire de cet événement un moment réellement inoubliable pour tous les Canadiens.
Notre équipe des médias sociaux vous présentera d’ailleurs plusieurs activités ici même, sur le blogue communautaire de Molson, au cours des prochaines semaines et des prochains mois (merci à Tonia pour son aide dans l’insertion des hyperliens!). Demeurez à l’écoute!
Salutations,
Kevin Boyce
English VLOG
[youtube Qci5ElZj39Y]
French VLOG
[youtube UTGspMeWlAs]
