Beginning anything new is always interesting, and a new season is no different. With players from across the continent and beyond, the last few weeks have been as much about getting to know Stanstead College as it has been about getting to know the power play.

 

I feel very fortunate that 14 of my coaching years have come here at Stanstead College with the varsity boys hockey team. I have coached and met so many amazing Spartans and always look forward to welcoming our new players into the school community. We have a special place, in large part because of the people who have continued to build the reputation and legacy of the school over the last 153 years.

 
Last spring, our school and alumni community lost a friend. After a courageous battle with cancer, former four-year varsity hockey Spartan, Ryan Bedard, passed away. Ryan was more than a hockey player. He was a three-sport varsity athlete, a prefect, everyone’s best friend and most of all a true Spartan. Weeks never seemed to go by without hearing a story about Ryan from faculty or his former classmates and teammates, including our own Coach Vanasse.

 

As last school year ended and summer began, I felt it was important to find a way to make sure Ryan’s successes here at Stanstead could be in the forefront of student-athletes lives’ for years to come. This plan turned into action on Saturday morning when we announced Brody Molloy as the captain of the Stanstead College Varsity Boys Hockey team. As Ryan’s former teammate, Coach Vanasse introduced Brody as the captain and spoke to the person, athlete and leader that Ryan was, from their time as teammates in Border Minor Hockey all the way up to the years at Stanstead. Continuing to find ways to share the person Ryan was is important to our coaching staff and program. We made small decals with Ryan’s number 11 and the captain “C” to put on our helmets for this year, but the question remained about how to best let Ryan’s spirit live on.

 

Through a variety of conversations with many people around our school, it was decided that the captain of the varsity boys hockey team will now wear Ryan’s #11. Numerous other ways to honor Ryan were discussed, but at the end of the day instead of having a stationary or one-time tribute, this allows renewed conversation and a constant presence year in and year out. It is an honour to be a captain, and now an added honour and responsibility for our captain to wear the Ryan’s #11. Three-year Spartan Brody Molloy happily accepted this responsibility and his new #11 jersey with pride. Seeing #11 on the ice year after year as captain will continue to keep his Spartan legacy alive.

 

No days pass where I don’t think of the privilege and responsibility that exists to teach, coach and live within a community that is so rich with amazing people. I am happy to know that Ryan’s legacy and story will remain front of mind through the captaincy of our team. We will continue to share the person that made him successful and ensure that our entire team plays with the spirit and love for Stanstead College that he played with every time he pulled his jersey on.

 

It was a successful weekend on the ice, as the boys won both of their games, defeating College Bourget 4-2 and Ulysse Academy 7-0. This coming weekend the boys will travel to their first CPSHA weekend at Ridley College.