NHL legend Mark Messier was in the Cochrane area on the weekend playing paintball for a little family relaxation.

The six-time NHL champion and holder of many hockey records brought his 14-year old son Doug and a friend to check out the multiply playing fields at Capture the Flag Paintball and Airsoft, 36 km northwest of Cochrane, on July 29. Messier says he's been in the area before but had never before tried the renown paintball haven. He was impressed with the operation.

Ex-CFLer Harry Kruger, who owns Capture the Flag and now runs it with his sons Blaine and Eric, says the call came in early on Friday. He was hesitant to call back but is glad he did.

"It was really funny. Out of the blue at 7:30 a.m. I get this call from Vermount. I wasn't going to call it back because I thought it might have been someone from Google or something like that, but I did and he came on the line and said, 'Hi, this is Mark'."

Messier is the latest of many athletes who've tried out Capture the Flag, though in this case it was for family leisure.Normally it's for team building for the likes of the Calgary Stampeders, many hockey squads and others for team building. Even the Austrian national ski team came last November to take a break from training.

"We get a real mix bag," says Kruger.

Kruger bought the land with his CFL money and besides keeping horses and cutting firewood for an off-season workout, he acquired a dozen paintball guns from a friend.

"Now here we are, fast forward, 36 years later with 600 guns, 22 playing fields and making a business of it."

Messier also went fishing in the area before heading to Banff for the Slats and Friends Charity Golf Tournament being held today. Wayne Gretzky, Grant Fuhr and, of course, Slats himself, Glen Sather, are among those hitting the Fairmount Banff Springs Golf Course.