One of the highlights of my holiday season took place Sunday afternoon, Dec. 23. It was two days before Christmas as eight young players skated around the Don Henderson Memorial Sportsplex ice surface in Brookfield.
Watching these players warm up and chase pucks around the huge ice sheet, the thought came to mind – “it doesn’t get much better than this.”
The players were enjoying hockey perhaps the way it should be enjoyed. You might say ‘they were in another zone’ and friendships noticeably stood out. Brothers G.R. (Glen-Ryan) and Brent Walters, home to Brookfield for the Christmas break, had organized a pickup hockey game.
Brent, a junior goaltender, wore full netminder gear, the seven others wore only skates and hockey gloves and carried sticks.
“We were on the ice for two hours,” G.R., 21, said later. “We went through a couple shooting drills and then we played a couple long scrimmage games. We played until we were exhausted but a guy can’t describe how much fun it was. Right after we finished we headed home to load up, we were ready to eat. We had really built up big appetites.”
G.R. touched on what stood out during the game.
“It’s getting pretty hard to score on Brent, he’s surpassed our level,” he said.
A third-year Saint Mary’s University student, G.R. is studying English and history with a goal to become a high school teacher. As a sideline, he is the equipment manager and trainer with the East Hants Penguins of the Nova Scotia Hockey League.
“I became involved last season when Brent was playing goal for the junior B Penguins. We’ve had an amazing season so far this year, we’re in first place in the Fred Fox Division. The Penguins are a well-run organization, I really enjoy the coaching staff and the players.”
G.R. played his minor hockey in Brookfield in the South Colchester Minor Hockey Association, playing from peewee up to midget. A fixture around the sportsplex for years, he spent 10 years with the Elks junior B team – handling numerous jobs, including water boy, stick boy, equipment manager and assistant trainer.
“I was only seven or eight when I started hanging around with the Brookfield Elks hockey team. It’s almost unbelievable but I even made the road trips. I remember missing a few mornings of school after arriving home late the night before because of a road game.”
Brent, the property of Valley Wildcats, has spent the season between junior A with the Wildcats and the junior B Valley Maple Leafs.
“I’m living in Berwick and I’ve been practicing with the Wildcats and doing a lot of backup in junior A,” Brent, 19, said. “I’ve been starting a lot in junior B with the Maple Leafs. I’m keeping busy, I’m getting a lot of ice time but I would like to see more junior A action. I’ve had two starts in junior A this season.”
One of Brent’s recent junior B starts was in a 6-1 Maple Leafs win over the visiting Brookfield Elks, in that game he stopped 20 of 21 shots.
“I’m really enjoying being home for the holiday break,” he said.
“Brookfield is my hometown and where I played some of my minor hockey, I really enjoying being home with family and friends.”
In 2017-18, Brent played with East Hants Penguins, late in the season he enjoyed a career highlight. With a hearing impairment, he was selected to play for Team Canada in the World Deaf Hockey Championship in Buffalo, N.Y. Playing against teams from the Czech Republic, Sweden, USA, Finland and Slovakia – Brent was outstanding – recording five wins and a loss while appearing in seven games.
“It was perhaps my most exciting time in hockey. I recall that once I started making some saves, my confidence really rose.”
It’s been confirmed that Brent will try out for Team Canada for the 2019 World Winter Deaf Olympics, to be played Dec. 12 to 21 in Italy.
“As one of Brent’s biggest fans, I’m totally thrilled,” G.R. said. “Brent puts so much into hockey, he strives to be the best goaltender he can possibly be.”
Lyle Carter’s sports column appears weekly in the Truro News. If you have a story idea, contact him at 902 673-2857.
