Our small town of St. Stephen has always been filled with hockey cheers every year. Our players have always shown off their sportsmanship and respect for the game every time they play from our youngest skaters right up to our time having a junior A team. In the game of hockey, not every year will end in winning streaks, and this year our Boys High School team has been re-building their team with lots of new players and many playing in new positions. It’s a hard road that can sometimes feel discouraging every time you lace up your skates for a game, but our Spartans boys team have been doing their best to show up and play for every game. 

Photo credit: Paul Cloney (Facebook)

During a game in December 2019, a great show of sportsmanship happened with Southern Victoria High School in between periods. 

“Hi Valerie,

I just wanted to send along this picture and a quick note to tell you how extremely impressed I was on Saturday night with your Boys Hockey Team(players and coaches). SSHS is in a rebuilding phase of our hockey program and chose to continue to play in the AA league this year, knowing it was going to be a struggle, but wanted to stay part of the group of teams that they have connected with and held long standing relationships with over the years.

Our team found ourselves in a position Saturday without a goalie. The team had one of our Senior Players step up and wear the gear despite never having been in net before. Your team was so respectful during the entire match, but the attached picture brought tears and a round of applause from the crowd between periods.

Your goalie made his way down to give our goalie some pointers and tips. It was an inspiring show of sportsmanship. He continued to support our goalie by slapping his stick on the ice for each and every save our goalie made.

Sometimes, hockey can present challenges for administrators, but this weekend, it was the highlight of the week and reminded all who were there of the good and kindness in our youth.

Kudos to you, your coaches and to your players!

Krista”

The amazing story picked up nationwide coverage being featured on CBC, Global and being picked up by hockey sites like Trade Rumours.