Corn maze honours a N.B. hockey team's golden shutout season

As the University of New Brunswick men’s hockey team hoisted the university cup last season, an idea sprouted at a farm in Florenceville-Bristol, N.B.

Chip and Tom Hunter decided to carve their cornfield into a maze to celebrate the hockey team that carved out its place in history.

“They weren't just the best team. They were head and shoulders above everybody else,” said Chip Hunter.

Last season, the UNB Reds went undefeated all year. In the playoffs, they didn't just win each game, they shut out every team they faced.

It planted the seed for the Hunter brothers to use their six acres to crown the champions in a canvas of corn.

“They won every game and they weren't scored upon. It was just unbelievable,” said Chip Hunter.

A bird's eye view shows the design: the UNB Reds' 43-0 record, their university cup and an image of Gardiner MacDougall, the long-time head coach who led the team and has retired from UNB. He now coaches the Moncton Wildcats.

“They did a great job,” said Cole MacKay, a UNB hockey player who helped capture the cup and the perfect season. “Even Coach Mac's Mustache is done up pretty nice.”

The Hunter Brothers' cornfield maze in Florenceville-Bristol, N.B., honours the UNB Reds' perfect season. (Image courtesy: Hunter Brothers Farm)

The Hunters devised an idea for the layout and sent it to a graphic designer who made a rendering. After a few tweaks, an engineer visited the farm with his crew and painted the design on the field.

“Taking out the corn is the trickiest part,” said Tom Hunter. “The more detail there is, the trickier it is.”

At the Hunter Brothers Farm, the corn maze has morphed into an annual tradition. For the past 24 years, they’ve transformed their plot to celebrate Canadian success stories—such as the Toronto Raptors, musical icons like Gordon Lightfoot and Stan Rogers and Terry Fox.

Scattered through out the property, there are 10 trivia questions about the UNB Reds.

To the UNB men’s hockey team, the design captures a hockey highlight.

“Opening social media yesterday and seeing that was a surprise but something we're all pretty excited about,” said MacKay.

“It's a huge honour for our program to be able to represent the province as a whole and to put that season together last year and have it be celebrated the way it has been.”

The corn maze opened Saturday, Sept. 7 and is scheduled to stay open every weekend until the end of October, including Thanksgiving Monday.