Maroons netminder Hunter Laing was doing his best impression of a ball hockey goalie to keep the Lightning from scoring on him.
At six-foot-six and 195 pounds, the 15-year-old Prince George Cougars draft pick could have used some goalie gear to help take up more of the net, especially with sniper Craig Armstrong, on loan to the Lightning from the WHL Cougars, winding up on some snapshots that left welts on Laing’s body in their Sunday afternoon game.
They were all doing it for a good cause, to raise money for a local charity as part of the Desjardins Community Cup Shootout, one of the feature attractions of the Rogers Hometown Hockey festival happening over the weekend in the CN Centre parking lot.
“Our goalie kind of sucks,” said 14-year-old Noah Naegeli, while waiting to take his next shift for the Maroons.
Cougars defenceman Jaren Brinson was also on the Maroons’ side, but neither he nor Laing were earning much respect for their efforts on the outdoor rink.
“They’re not really helping that much, we’re doing all the work pretty much, they’re just sitting back there,” said Nathan Meise, 14.
The verbal jabs at Laing were relentless.
“The ball hockey’s going good, but the goalie is kind of letting us down,” offered Maroons forward Oliver Williams, 13. “We’ve tried everyone in goal.”
The problem was the Maroons’ regular Prince George Minor Hockey U-14 house league goalie wanted to be a forward for the ball hockey game and left his goalie gear at home. As bad as it was for Laing, with his teammates dissing him, the Maroons had a healthy lead on the Lightning, despite Armstrong’s best efforts to fill the net.
Laing had a much different take on his own ball hockey goaltending skills.
“You know, I’m a Vezina goalie,” Laing said. “There’s no defence, so I don’t know. We’re the Detroit Red Wings out here, no defence. Armstrong is just ripping shots. But I think we’re winning by 20.
“I scored two goals from the crease, more than some of these kids. I didn’t play (in the Cougars’ 2-1 win over the Victoria Royals Saturday night), so I have a lot of energy right now.”
Cougars defenceman Hudson Thornton wasn’t playing in the hour-long ball hockey game and was asked for his unbiased opinion as a casual observer.
“I’m just the support guy but I think Laing is getting a hard time, he’s put a lot of effort into the net,” said Thornton. “I think Armstrong’s going a little too hard out there and he’s just trying to score. He’s taking it way too seriously. He didn’t score last night (against the Royals), maybe he’s trying to get some confidence.”
Naegeli was among about a thousand visitors to the festival on Saturday and he said he liked the food and the table hockey game. He didn’t wait in line to meet legendary Vancouver Canucks goalie Kirk McLean, but his mom went for an autograph.
Thornton set the bar high in the hardest shot booth when he blasted the hollow plastic puck 73 miles per hour.
“I think I had the record there, that was fun,” said Thornton. “I tried the accuracy shooting but you can’t really see the lights. Somebody finished the stickhandling competition in 21 seconds so I’ll try to beat that.”
Ryan Paziuk and his wife brought their three young kids to the festival and four-year-old Kelsey needed a bit of dad’s assistance to show her how to shoot a hockey puck for the first time. Her two-year-old sister McKenna was an interested spectator, while her seven-week-old brother Emmett, resting in the stroller, will just have to wait until Hometown Hockey makes its return to Prince George.
“It’s a great experience for the kids to come out here and enjoy such a wonderful event, especially since the pandemic has happened,” said Ryan Paziuk. “Everybody has wanted to go out and socialize and what better thing than hockey, Canada’s national sport, to get people out. I’m just glad to see the great turnout from the community here to support these great events.”
The rest of the country will get to hear some of the stories of the city’s hockey history when Ron MacLean of Hockey Night in Canada and Rogers Sportsnet broadcaster Tara Slone host a live program before and during the Winnipeg Jets-Ottawa Senators broadcast Monday afternoon starting at 3 p.m.
Kirk McLean was at the Hometown Hockey event in 2015 in Prince George and as one of the Canucks’ ambassadors he looks forward to greeting fans who come by asking him to sign their jerseys and NHL memorabilia and talk about his heroics in the crease during the Canucks’ first run to the Stanley Cup final in 1994.
“I love coming to the smaller towns and enjoying two days of fun with the community,” said the 55-year-old McLean. “When the TV coverage comes in from Hometown Hockey you’ll get the beautiful countryside and the town itself and the community get to be on TV and it puts everybody on the map. It’s a hockey town in P.G., with two junior hokey teams. Hockey draws everybody in and it brings the community together.”
