Chatham, Ont., couple ties the knot at centre ice during Windsor Spitfires game

A Chatham couple is now married after a ceremony on ice during the Windsor Spitfires game. CTV Windsor’s Travis Fortnum has the scoop.

For Sheldon Cadotte and Daylene Trudell, hockey isn’t just a shared interest — it’s become part of their love story.

The Chatham, Ont., couple officially tied the knot Thursday night, getting married at centre ice during a Windsor Spitfires home game at the WFCU Centre, fittingly on the team’s Elvis-themed night.

“It’s definitely a unique experience,” Trudell said. “I didn’t expect this to happen at all.”

Cadotte and Trudell have been together for eight years — nine this August — but their story stretches back even further. The two first met in high school, when their social circles overlapped at parties. They later drifted apart when Cadotte left town for school, only to reconnect years later after he moved back to Chatham.

From there, hockey slowly worked its way into their relationship.

“We randomly decided to go to a game because we won tickets,” Trudell said. “And I was like, ‘Well, that’s kind of fun, so let’s keep going.’”

What started casually turned meaningful. The couple says they’ve been to many Spitfires games over the years, holding onto ticket stubs as keepsakes.

Those memories took on new meaning last spring when Cadotte proposed to Trudell on the ice during a Spitfires game after the couple were brought onto the ice to play ‘human bowling.’

“That was a fun moment,” he said. “They let me grab the microphone to propose to her and she said yes, so I won.”

Months later, the couple was approached by team staff with an unexpected idea: to get married in the same place.

Thursday night, they said their vows between the second and third periods, surrounded by family, friends, and thousands of fans watching from the stands.

The team gifted the couple and their loved ones a suite at the arena for before and after the ceremony, and a hotel room for the newlyweds too.

This was the first time the Spitfires have hosted a wedding.

“It’s really nice to know that in one way or another we’ll go down in history for doing something like this,” Cadotte said.