A virtual who’s who of North Bay hockey visited a well known outdoor rink last night, all of them with the same thing in common - they have played at the legendary Labreche Forum.
Butch Turcotte, the superintendent of the outdoor rink that forged the NHL career of Darren Turcotte, was honoured on the ice Tuesday night with a Labreche Forum jersey signed by dozens of hockey players of all ages who have played on the famous outdoor rink nestled near the shoreline of the Parks Creek in West Ferris.
See this story: Legendary local outdoor rink celebrates 40 years of ice
It was a celebration of 40 years of passion that Butch has put into keeping this outdoor rink going - a neighbourhood rink which is usually the first to open and the last to shut down.
“This rink is truly a hockey heritage site in the city of North Bay,” stated Chris Dawson, who helped organize the event with Darren Turcotte.
For Darren - who brought many members of the Nipissing Varsity Women’s Hockey team that he coaches to the ceremony - this was a very rewarding experience.
“That is exactly why he does it. He loves seeing the smiles on young people's faces,” stated Darren about his Dad’s reaction to the event.
“Tonight was not about the first generation or the second generation of people that have skated on that rink. It was about today's kids. Seeing people that I followed as a young kid, like Mike McParland and Joe Omiciolli there was awesome to see.”
And all generations celebrated and shared stories about playing on the rink which officially closed on Monday night for the season.
Retired Police Chief Paul Cook recalled his time on the legendary rink putting on the pads and braving the cold to play the game that so many have played for the past 40 years.
Former Centennials Captain Robin Boucher made a visit with his young son.
Battalion defenceman Zach Shankar, whose billets help Butch get the rink prepared every fall, has enjoyed playing on the rink during downtime with his billet brothers.
But it was the younger generation that presented the jersey to the Labreche Forum superintendent who was short on words but full of appreciation for the recognition.
And that’s exactly the way Butch wanted it.
