A Ukrainian girls鈥� hockey team is in Canada for a few days of peace and hockey in an arena that doesn鈥檛 have a missile-sized hole in its roof.

After a 56 hours of travel to Calgary, including a 24-hour bus ride from Dnipro to Warsaw, Poland, that required army escort for a portion of it, the Ukrainian Wings will join Wickfest, Hayley Wickenheiser鈥檚 annual girls鈥� hockey festival, on Thursday.

The squad of players aged 11 to 13 was drawn from eight different cities in Ukraine, where sport facilities have been damaged or destroyed since Russia started its invasion in February 2022.

鈥淭hey all have a personal story of something awful happening,鈥� said Wickenheiser. 鈥淲e give them a week of peace and joy here and I hope they can carry that with them.

鈥淲e know full well they鈥檙e going back to difficult circumstances. It鈥檚 tough that way.鈥�

Nine players are from Kharkiv, where pictures show a large hole in the roof of the Saltovskiy Led arena where the girls鈥� team WHC Panthers once skated.

鈥淚t was our home ice arena, and we played all our national team championships in this ice arena,鈥� said Kateryna Seredenko, who oversees the Panthers program and is the Wings general manager.

Ukraine鈥檚 Olympic Committee posted photos and wrote in a Facebook post Sept. 1 that Kharkiv鈥檚 Sport Palace, which was home to multiple hockey teams, was also destroyed in an attack on the city.

Seredenko says the Wings鈥� arduous journey to Calgary was worth it because it gives the girls hope.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a good situation in Ukraine, but when they come here, they can believe that everything will be good, everything will be fine, of course we will win soon and we must play hockey. We can鈥檛 stop because we love these girls and we will do everything for them,鈥� she said.

鈥淪o many girls on this Ukrainian team are future players of the national team.鈥�

Wickenheiser, a Hockey Hall of Famer, is the assistant general manager of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs and a doctor who works emergency-room shifts in the Toronto area.

The six-time Olympian and four-time gold medallist organized her first Wickfest after the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

She鈥檚 had teams from India, Mexico and Czechia attend over the last decade and a half, but never a team that ran the Ukrainians鈥� gauntlet of logistics.

The Canadian Partnership for Women and Children鈥檚 Health took on the task of arranging visas and paying for the team鈥檚 travel.

鈥淲e care about women and children鈥檚 health. Sport is such a symbol. When you see a group of girls coming off the ice all sweaty and having worked hard on the ice, it鈥檚 a symbol of a healthy girl,鈥� said chief executive officer Julia Anderson.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a healthy kid that鈥檚 able to participate in sport. We really believe if we can get girls there, whether they鈥檙e in an active war zone, or here in Canada, those girls will change the world.鈥�

The Wings aren鈥檛 the first Ukrainians to seek a hockey haven in Canada since the war began.

An under-25 men鈥檚 team played four games against university squads in early 2023 to prepare for that year鈥檚 world university games.

Ukrainian teams have also twice played in the Quebec City International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the first time in Ukrainian history where a girls鈥� team is coming to Canada to a very good tournament,鈥� Seredenko said. 鈥淭hey can see how they can play in their future. And they can see how it is to play hockey in Canada.鈥�