Members of the SFU Pipe Band are hoping to snag top spot in the world championships this weekend in Glasgow, Scotland.
Since the early '90s, the band has often placed in the top three spots in world competition. The group formed in 1966 and now has more than 40 members, led by Pipe Major Terry Lee.
This year, the band is playing with a former rival: Robert Mathieson from a Scottish band called The House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead.
"This is huge in the piping world," said SFU's Pipe Sergeant Jack Lee. "It would be like the Canucks signing Sidney Crosby."
After Mathieson retired earlier this year, Terry invited him to join the SFU Pipe Band,
"I asked him what he was planning to do next and whether he'd consider coming to Canada to do something fresh," Terry said.
Mathieson said it took two seconds for him to say yes to join the "serial tour de force" in the pipe band world.
"This isn't about being parachuted in for the world championships," he said. "I'm here to join the band. I'm in it for the long haul, not just for the one season."
The World Pipe Band Championships draw 40,000 spectators and competitors from 16 nations.
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