Ticket sales are already heating up for Barn Burner: Barrie Mayor

Things are heating up for the 2024 Boots and Hearts Barn Burner charity hockey game in Barrie.

The official kickoff for the Aug. 7 game, which will be held at Sadlon Arena, was held Monday morning at the Burls Creek Event Grounds in Oro-Medonte.

Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall said the fundraising should top last year’s total of $276,000.

“This year, we’re on track to far exceed that number,” he said. “We’re about to be sold.”

Nuttall said 2,200 advance tickets have been sold for the annual hockey game, which typically features 20 professional hockey players from the National Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League, as well as community participants and special guests.

Isaak Phillips of the Chicago Blackhawks, Quinton Byfield of the Los Angeles Kings and Chris Tierney of the New Jersey Devils were on hand for Monday’s official release.

“It’s definitely on my calendar in the summer every year,” said Tierney, who lives in Bradford.

“It’s to raise money for the less fortunate in the community,” Oro-Medonte Mayor Randy Greenlaw said.

Looking back at 2018, Nuttall said the charity hockey game raised $98,000 that year.

To date, it has raised more than $2 million, with beneficiaries including the Royal Victoria Regional Health Center (RVH), the Rotary Club, PIE Education, the John Tavares Foundation, Easter Seals and the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Tickets, starting at $25, can be purchased now through one of three Rotary clubs — Rotary Club of Barrie, Barrie-Huronia Rotary and Kempenfelt Rotary — or through TicketPro starting tomorrow (June 11).

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