With a crowd of thousands in attendance, and countless others watching on TV across the country, Timmins took centre stage on Sunday.
As part of Sportsnet's Hometown Hockey weekend celebration in 'The City with a Heart of Gold' two local hockey legends had their banners returned to their hometown.
Frank Mahovlich, undoubtedly the best player to ever come out of the Timmins area, and Bill Barilko, whose career was cut short by a tragic plane crash, had their legacies cemented even further into local hockey lore.
During the second intermission of Sunday's broadcast of a game between the Arizona Coyotes and Edmonton Oilers, Mahovlich and Barilko's nephews joined hosts Ron MacLean and Tara Slone outside of the McIntyre Arena to share a few memories before MacLean cued Timmins Fire Chief Mike Pintar, who was on the roof of The Mac, to drop the banners.
It was a quick, but moving moment. Slone admitted on-air she was moved to tears, as well as Barilko's nephews. They weren't the only ones.
"Actually, I had tears in my eyes. After it all ended I looked down, with everyone cheering, I had tears in my eyes. For the Bickell family, the Barilko family, and the Mahovlich, imagine for them to all come back. That's the biggest thing for me, because they are our history," Pintar told TimminsToday just a few minutes later.
The Mahovlich and Barilko banners, which were hung for a long time in the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, were returned to Timmins as part of the Maple Leafs centennial season celebrations.
Wayne Bozzer, the volunteer director of the Timmins Sports Heritage Hall of Fame, was beaming with pride afterwards.
"I think this is such a historic moment. It's a sporting moment, but I think its also a community moment. And with the lights shining on it now, and hanging on a 1938 iconic building that has meant so much to the community, the people out here celebrating, the national exposure, its just a proud, goosebumps kind of moment for me," he said.
Bozzer said the banners will be placed inside the arena as soon as possible.
Massive crowds enjoyed the weekend's festivities. Andrew Autio for TimminsToday"They're large. They're 16 by 6 (feet), so we have to find a way to put them in The Mac that won't be obstructing the views. The goal is to get them inside, and then to also maybe for our Hall of Fame ceremony next June, to get a special plaque made with some of these photos, and why they came here, and the whole moment."
The Maple Leafs are creating new tribute banners for the ACC, including Mahovlich and Barilko, as well as Tim Horton, whose banner was returned to Cochrane in September.
As a whole, the weekend proved to be an overwhelming success, with huge crowds at every event.
"I really feel proud that it happened. I'm hoping that it helps our community build more pride, more bragging, more storytelling. And it's okay to do that. I think the people here rallied around that, I hope it helps other things we do in the community that aren't necessarily hockey or sport related, but event related, and community related in any sense. It brings the community together, and a community I think needs stories to tell around the campfire, and here's one of them I think we'll remember for a long time," he said.
A tireless community volunteer, Bozzer has been working on bringing the event to Timmins for a few years.
"What's good about this one, is that it wasn't a competition. It wasn't a bidding. You didn't have to do a cheer to get it. You told your story. So we submitted a lot of stuff, so we deserve it, and I think today proved that."
TimminsToday had a lengthy discussion with Frank Mahovlich after the ceremony, we will have that story shortly.
