Chuck LeCain began his hockey journey quite different than most players.
LeCain, a former university goaltender, will perform an important duty Saturday night before the
Truro Bearcats-Valley Wildcats Maritime Hockey League game.
Just before 7.30 p.m., at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre, the annual MHL–Bob Boucher Hockey Assistant Fund Scholarship of $1,500 will be awarded to Truro Bearcats Luke Macmillan for the 2017-18 season. LeCain, a former Saint Mary’s Huskies goaltender and a founding member of the
Boucher scholarship group, will make the presentation.
“The league makes a shortlist and they forward it to the Bob Boucher group which I’m with,” LeCain, 69, of Bridgewater, explained. “We wind up selecting the winner from that group. We support education and we look for a person who is not only a good hockey player but also a quality student.
Luke MacMillan is a perfect example.”
Giving back to the community is another quality the Boucher group focuses on, Macmillan stood out.
Speaking with LeCain, his hockey background and goaltending quickly came into the conversation. He smiled when I mentioned to him that Truro area hockey fans would enjoy hearing about ‘hockey day in Brooklyn, New York,’ his peculiar start in hockey and where it led.
“My father (Armand) was from Cheverie, Nova Scotia – he winds up going to New York to work so Iwas born in downtown Brooklyn,” LeCain began.
“My father was a longtime hockey fan, actually a Boston Bruins fan. After work one day, he took me to a New York Rangers game. We sat in an end-zone and for two periods, the closest player to me was Gump Worsley, in goal for the Rangers.”
Besides being influenced by the Rangers Worsley, LeCain said his father had played goal and his favourite netminders were Boston’s Tiny Thompsonand Toronto’s Turk Broda. Living and dreaming goaltending, LeCain pretended to be Gump Worsley, but, getting his start in hockey, would not be on ice.
“In our end of Brooklyn, between 71st and 72nd streets, I was seven blocks from a roller hockey rink. I started playing around age seven. I’d wake up onthe weekend, I’d go down to the basement and I’d put on my gear and roller skates. I’d roller skate seven blocks to the rink on 79th street. I don’t know
what people thought of this goaltender roller skating down the street.”
LeCain recalled lots of teams looking for a goaltender so he’d play for several hours. As many of the players were much older – LeCain said he also learned many life-lessons.
In 1963, LeCain came to Nova Scotia to attend Kings College School in Windsor.
“I was 13 when I first put on real skates and skated on ice. There’s some amazement in that, a lot of skills I picked up in roller hockey, really helped me. It was tough though in the early going, I would go to a lot to public skating. I logged many hours in learning to skate.”
During five years attending Kings, LeCain gained a lot of goaltending and hockey experience. Fast forward to 1968-69 and LeCain was Saint Mary’s Huskies number one goaltender under coach Bob Boucher.
“It was a high-level calibre of hockey. We won Saint Mary’s first modern era Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association championship and got to go to the national championship in Edmonton, Alberta. I want to give credit to the other goaltender, Sam Lannon, he was a good guy from NL.”
Former professional goaltender and NHL prospect Chuck Goddard arrived at Saint Marys in 1969-70.
“Chuck was an outstanding goaltender, my ice time diminished greatly. I backed him up, Chuck was nothing short of spectacular. I hope people will remember me as a good teammate, it was great to be part of Saint Mary’s four ACHA championships. Not bad for a young man who played on roller skates five years earlier in Brooklyn, New York.”
LeCain has many connections to Truro, he played at Kings under Dennis Rector. Former Huskies teammates include Darrell Maxwell, Richie Bayes, Jim Dickey and Randy Crowell.
Chuck’s son, defenceman Peter LeCain, played for the MHL Truro Bearcats in 2000-2001. Peter later played four seasons with Brown University.
Residing in Bridgewater with his wife Judy, LeCain retired after teaching in the public school system for 40 years.
Lyle Carter’s sports column appears weekly in the Truro News. If you have a story idea, contact him at 902 673-2857.
