The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Teams launch Invasion By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer Two Halton Hills-based girls' hockey teams are headed to Scandinavia during the holidays on a trip they'll never forget. So says one of the organizers of the adventure, local native and former NHLer Adam Bennett, who went on a similar shinny excursion to Sweden with a Georgetown bantam-aged boys' club in 1985. That team held a reunion party in Ballinafad six years ago and that's when the seed was planted to organize something similar again. "I think the players on that team all shared the same feeling that the trip was the best part of our minor hockey careers, so I got to thinking that at the right time, I'd love for my kids (Kaitie and Jill) to experience that as well," said Bennett, who will coach both the peewee and bantam Canadian Invasion squads, made up mostly of players North Halton Twisters' Girls' Hockey Association. "So I selfishly started this endeavour and we've been pleasantly surprised by the response of people wanting to SPORTS & LEISURE share it with us. We're taking a leap of faith, but I think this is going to be even better than when we went over 26 years ago." Arranged by Vermont-based Selects Sports Tours, the teams leave on Boxing Day and will have two games and a practice in Helsinki, Finland, and after an overnight cruise on Dec. 30, arrive in Sweden for two more games and a practice-- along with a New Year's Eve celebration in Stockholm-- before returning home Jan. 3. Unlike in 1985, when the Georgetown bantams stayed with billets in Sweden, the players and their families numbering 66 in total will stay in hotels and take a few sightseeing tours. Both Canadian Invasion teams were on the ice for a practices in the fall, but Bennett said he won't be preoccupied Some members of the North Halton bantam Twisters who will play on the Canadian going over Xs and Os with the teams Invasion team in Finland and Sweden (pictured from front left, moving clockwise) are: Jessica Allin, Victoria Montgomery, Quinlan Stamp, Taylor Gruszka, Taylor LeBlanc. when the opening faceoff arrives. Photo by Eamonn Maher "What I've told the parents is that the hockey itself will be secondary on the trip," he added. "What they'll remember most is the overall general experience of being in a foreign country and everything around that. Hockey is the least thing I remember from our trip." 13 Independent & Free Press, Thursday, December 22, 2011 Stanley Cup here Dec. 30 As part of the Georgetown Minor Hockey Association's 75th anniversary festivities, the Stanley Cup is coming to the Mold-Masters SportsPlex on Friday, Dec. 30. The revered NHL championship chalice will be on display from noon to 8 p.m. in the Halton Hills Sports Museum & Resource Centre. That's also the final day of the Bob Goldham Memorial Christmas House League Tournament featuring teams from all of the GMHA's house league age groups. There is no admission charge and visitors will be able to get their picture taken with the Stanley Cup. Santa Murphy Sixteen-year-old Callaghan Murphy of Georgetown has helped make it a Christmas to remember for several youngsters in the remote Northern Ontario town of Sandy Lake, which is located near the Manitoba border. A few weeks ago, Murphy sent out a notice to all teams in the Georgetown Minor Hockey Association that he was collecting equipment and the family home's basement soon became a used hockey gear headquarters. Two full pickup truck loads of equipment were recently transported to Thunder Bay along with food and toys from the Erindale United Church in Mississauga and were flown in to Sandy Lake from there. Murphy, a Grade 12 student at Georgetown District High School who plays for the midget A Raiders, said he'd like to undertake the equipment collection again next year. "I was surprised at how many things were donated and how long it took to pack up into boxes. We have a good community here." Submitted photo Driving to the net House league and rep players from the Georgetown Minor Hockey Association collected non-perishable food items last weekend and earlier this week dropped off about 300 grocery bags of non-perishable food items and $500 in cash to the Georgetown Bread Basket. After the weekend was over, the GMHA's inaugural Food Drive rounded up enough groceries to fill a hockey net. Photo by Eamonn Maher SHOP HALTON HILLS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON! SHOPLOCAL SHOP SMART... SHOP HALTON HILLS Shopping local saves you money. Out of town shops have done a good job of convincing us all that sole traders = expensive, but the evidence just isn't there to back this up . If you add in travel, parking costs, fees to transport larger items home and your time, the overall cost is often much higher. SHOP LOCAL, SHOP HALTON HILLS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON! YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 905.873.0301