ATHABASCA —The Athabasca Hawks U11-1 hockey team had an experience they won’t soon forget after former NHL player and northern Albertan neighbour Justin Fontaine spent an afternoon on the ice coaching players.
Fontaine joined the Hawks U11-1 team at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex Jan. 31 for two ice sessions to practice skills like passing and sharp turns, and drills to improve gameplay such as battling for the puck and practice maneuvering around the oppositions defence.
Hawks captain Rayder James, along with assistant captains Brody Lagace and Scott Weppler said “meeting the ex-NHL player,” was the most memorable aspect of the day. The trio said their team has big goals this season with aspirations to bring a provincial banner back to home ice.
Originally from Bonnyville, Alta., Fontaine played three seasons for the Minnesota Wild from 2013 to 2016. According to his biography on NHL.com, Fontaine was signed as a free agent by the New York Rangers in 2016 and traded to the Edmonton Oilers one year later.
In January 2023, Fontaine’s Junior A Bonnyville Pontiac’s jersey, sporting number 14, was retired and given a place in the rafters of the R.J. Lalonde Arena in Bonnyville. His jersey joins the ranks of other Bonnyville-area hockey legends and NHL players Mark Letestu and Jon Kalinski, and the late Matt Cook, who played in the Alberta Junior Hockey League before a cancer diagnosis.
Hawks team manager Sunshine Boucher said proceeds from the recent U11 tournament hosted in Athabasca Jan. 20 and 21 were used to secure Fontaine’s expertise for the players. Although final numbers weren’t available, she said approximately $12,000 was raised over the two days, and each team gets a say in how they want to allocate the funds.
“There are three areas in which the teams can spend their money,” said Boucher in a Feb. 1 interview. “They can spend it on buses for transportation, for development, or for tournaments, so the parents get to decide from there what’s best for their team.”
“Most of our (fundraising) was done from our raffle table,” said Boucher. Local businesses and community members donated more than 60 items for the tournament, including a paddle board, a signed painting of current Edmonton Oiler Darnell Nurse, and a Fantasyland Hotel package.
Boucher said the team still has funding left to spend from the tournament and has decided to pursue more training for the players. The two U11 teams are currently brainstorming more options, such as mini hockey camps.
“Basically, we’re looking at taking the days off school and turning those into hockey development days where we bring in outside trainers, rent ice, and have the kids do some fun stuff, but they’re also learning.
“It was all possible because of the overwhelming amount of support we had from the community for the tournament,” she added. “If we wouldn’t have had the community support, we never would have been able to raise the funds that we did and put it back into the kids to have these activities.”
