The Canadian men’s hockey team picked off the USA in semi-final action in Sochi on Friday and Calgarians will be able to watch the gold medal match against Sweden at a number of watering holes around the city on Sunday.
Before Friday’s game, 13 local, licenced establishments had applied to open their doors early so people could watch the game.
That number grew to 26, just hours after Canada’s win over the United States, and more are expected to follow suit.
Currently, licenced establishments in the province can start serving alcohol at 10:00 a.m. and many bar owners applied to tap the kegs a little earlier for fans.
The ALCG is relaxing the rules to accommodate that request and has decided that those establishments that already have a licence to serve at 10:00 can start pouring as early as 5:00 a.m. on Sunday.
All #Alberta licensed bars & restaurants are automatically included in Sunday 5 am #Sochi2014 extension, No need to apply. #drinkresponsibly
— AB Gaming & Liquor (@AGLCdotCA) February 21, 2014
“We appreciate the outpouring of enthusiasm of Albertans who want to gather to watch the game on Sunday and will support licensees to serve liquor when the puck drops,” said Bill Robinson, President & CEO of the AGLC.
Alberta's premier tweeted the news on Friday afternoon.
Big game on Sun! Happy to tell you AB bars will be able to open & serve at 5 AM. Go Canada, go! #pleasedrinkresponsibly #WeAreWinter #ableg
— Alison Redford (@Premier_Redford) February 21, 2014
A number of other provinces in Canada are also allowing bars and restaurants to open early for the game which gets underway at 5:00 MST.
(With files from Chris Epp)
