December 21, 2006 - Paton Publishing, a division of Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing announced today the purchase of Hockey Now Communications Ltd. to bring together grassroots hockey and NHL coverage, offering its readers some of the best hockey editorial in Canada and its advertisers the ability to reach the entire hockey family.

Hockey Now Communications produces three separate regional editions of Hockey Now magazine, two annual Junior Hockey magazines, plus special supplements for Hockey Alberta, the Ontario Minor Hockey Association and Hockey Canada. Hockey Now’s coverage showcases some of the best Minor League and JA hockey in Canada, offering youth the opportunity to showcase their hockey talent.

More than 100,000 copies of Hockey Now are distributed every month on newsstands in more than 800 bustling arenas, in hockey shops and at select national retail partners across six provinces. The publications serve the actively involved players, team officials, fans and parents in the minor and junior hockey community -- a community estimated to comprise over two million Canadians.

Beverley Paton, president of Paton Publishing, states: “Hockey Now is a perfect strategic fit within our portfolio of brands. It expands our each beyond youth to the hockey family – the parents, coaches, managers and referees who are actively involved in hockey. As a hockey mom, I can see first-hand how important it is to be able to profile youth for their outstanding hockey achievements, which Hockey Now does. Some of these youth will go on and be future NHL players and may even end up in NHLPowerPlay!”

“For our advertisers, this acquisition provides one-stop shopping to reach the entire hockey family and gives them the best editorial coverage from Atom and Peewee Minor Hockey leagues through Major Junior to the NHL,” says Paton. “As we build on our hockey platform, we will expand our website and in-arena coverage to ensure we maximize our advertisers’ hockey dollars as well as provide them with a turnkey solution.”

Don McIntosh, publisher of Hockey Now states: “We formulated a plan last fall for 2010 that included finding a major media partner and expanding our NHL coverage in order to rapidly accelerate our growth objectives.”

“When Beverley Paton called to talk about a possible acquisition, it was sort of incredible – because she brought both key elements to the table. Paton Publishing is not only part of Torstar, one of the country’s largest media companies, but is also, through its NHLPowerPlay magazine, closely linked to the NHL. Beverley brought a vision to extend her hockey brand that was similar to our own and was supportive of the third element in our growth plan – the start up of new regional sports lifestyle publications.”

“Being part of a larger organization means we will be able to offer more to the community we serve; more coverage, more frequency, more products, both conventional print and internet based, much sooner than we could on our own. I think our current advertisers and business partners are going to the biggest benefactors, as the new relationship will permit us to quickly develop a broader, larger audience.”

Plans are already underway to include a special NHLPowerPlay mid-season review in the February issues of Hockey Now. Although it’s too early to tell whether NHLPowerPlay will be integrated into Hockey Now, it’s certain that Hockey Now will expand throughout Canada to cover more hockey and reach more readers in every province.

Paton Publishing is a division of Metroland Printing and Publishing & Distributing Ltd. and is Canada's largest audited youth magazine publisher and youth marketing expert. Paton’s five core publications include: POP!, POP! Jr, YTV Whoa!/Whao!, NHLPowerPlay and The Grind magazines. Paton Publishing also creates curriculum-based in-school programs and is an established custom publisher for businesses and their brands. For more information, please visit www.patonpublishing.com, or contact Beverley Paton at (416) 503-4576, ext. 222. For Hockey Now, visit www.hockeynow.ca, or contact Don McIntosh at (877) 990-0520.

Hockey Now offers a unique platform that reaches more than 3 million Canadians who are active in the hockey community each year. It drills deep into the world of Canadian minor hockey at the grassroots level with three regional editions: Ontario, Alberta and B.C., distributed in six provinces: B.C., AB, SK, MN, ON & QC (English) at 91,000 copies per month: Ontario Edition - 46,000, Alberta Edition – 23,000 and the B.C. Edition – 22,000. With a total of 52 issues per year, and an annual distribution of more than 1.6 million, Hockey Now covers over 1,100 distribution points of which 800 are bustling hockey arenas and 300 are businesses, such as sporting stores and restaurants.

Hockey Now Reach
Hockey Now is where hockey lives before it goes pro: in the arena, at practices, at tournaments, at lessons and at games – all year round. Hockey Now has an average monthly readership of 176,476 with two established groups of loyal readers: adults 30 - 49 and youth 9 - 18. Our readers are actively engaged in every aspect of Canada’s game and very passionate about everything hockey. Schedule-oriented in nature, Hockey Now readers are active and affluent with disposable income.

Check out the Hockey Now Web site and see samples of some of our current regional issues: www.hockeynow.ca

NHL PowerPlay – now in Hockey Now!
NHL PowerPlay is appearing in tabloid format as a special 20-page section in four editions of Hockey Now, Canada's most widely distributed hockey publication.

In a recent Hockey Now reader survey, 80% of respondents indicated they follow the NHL daily; 72.5% said they watch the NHL on TV regularly; and 65% said they attend at least one NHL game per year. Now our readers can enjoy hockey coverage that begins at the grassroots level right through to the NHL!

"We've always wanted to add a quality NHL presence to Hockey Now, to build out on the specialized local hockey coverage we provide for the active hockey community," states publisher Don McIntosh. "It's a great fit for us and our readers."

PowerPlay reaches over 600,000 hockey players and fans.

Circulation
364,000 copies English

Frequency
Four issues: April - NHL Cup Crazy, June - NHL Entry Draft Preview, July - NHL Entry Draft Review, Oct - NHL Season

Check out the PowerPlay Web site and see a sample of some of our current features: www.nhlpowerplay.com