Vey Day replaces V-Day to celebrate Wakaw hockey hero

It’s a Valentines like no other in Wakaw.

Residents in the town north-east of Saskatoon are showing some love for local hockey product Linden Vey.

Vey is playing for the Canadian men’s Olympic team in Pyeongchang, and to show how proud they are, the community’s 1,000 residents have dedicated today Vey Day.

It’s an opportunity for the community to get behind and support Linden’s Olympic hockey run,” said Mayor Steve Skoworodko told the Brent Loucks Show Wednesday.

“Our slogan going into this is ‘small town, big pride.'”

In addition to residents wearing red, schools and businesses have decorated their windows with Vey’s grandfather serving as one of the judges to help pick the winner.

The town is also having public skate and shinny games at the arena where Vey honed his skills.

Skowordko said as a special send-off,  people in town signed a Canadian flag which was given to his mom to bring to South Korea.

“The community really got behind it. There was a ton of signatures on it.”

Canada’s first game is Thursday morning (5:10 a.m. Sask. time) against Switzerland.

On Friday evening, the town will gather at the Rec Centre to watch Vey and Team Canada take on the Czech Republic.