On May 27, West Elgin Firefighters escorted the U9 West Lorne Comets hockey team members and their families through West Lorne in a small parade to celebrate their incredible season.
The fire engine led the group and held the Silver Stick banner — which each team member signed the back of — on its grill, the rescue truck brought up the end with a hockey stick with a West Lorne Comets jersey on it fixed to the back like a flag, and the team members and their families rode in their own — some decorated with black and yellow balloons or streamers — between the two emergency response vehicles.
The team were unable to be on the emergency vehicles due to a combination of COVID-19 and liability protocols.
The parade began a little after 5 pm at the West Lorne Arena, went downtown and toured the downtown, before driving out to Talbot Trails Restaurant in Eagle where a celebratory dinner was waiting organized by Bill Graham, and the rest of the West Lorne Kiwanis Club .
Regarding organizing the dinner, Graham said, “When we heard what these kids had done, we knew we needed to do something to celebrate.” Community members pulled over for the parade and honked their support for the team.
At Talbot Trails Restaurant, the West Lorne Kiwanis Club, Mayor of West Elgin Duncan McPhail; and guest speaker two-time Paralympic athlete silver-medalist James Dunn, were waiting for the team’s arrival.
While waiting for the parade’s arrival, McPhail said, “When you have a group of kids of this quality, you expect that they’ll stay and grow together as a team, so we’ll hopefully have some more wins in the coming years. ”
In the venue the team was seated at the head table along with head coach Rob Tait, assistant coach and trainer Terry Weed, and guest speaker Dunn. Another table had West Lorne Kiwanis members seated along with McPhail. Families of the team were assigned to additional tables. The room was also set up with a table displaying all of the trophies, medals, and plaques that the “small but mighty” team had earned during their undefeated season.
The night opened with Emcee Graham giving the agenda of the evening.
After dinner, he returned to the podium for some musical entertainment. Picking up his guitar once more, Graham played and sang a very fitting song, “The Hockey Song” written in 1973 by Canadian folk singer Stompin’ Tom Connors, the crowd joined him for the chorus.
With the conclusion of the musical entertainment, head coach Tait called on each team member to be formally recognized.
“People really underestimated us,” said Tait. “They thought that just because we’ve only got 10 players, that we’d be an easy team to beat, well, I thought they did pretty darn good!” He also thanked the organizers of the dinner, “Thank you to the Kiwanis Club and Bill for honoring and celebrating our ‘small but mighty’ team.”
Kevin Summers, president of the West Lorne Minor Hockey Association said, “This team pulled through and did amazing. They really embody what hockey is and should mean. Seeing the support from the community is a great testament to how important this is and where we’re headed.”
Guest speaker Dunn explained his story, from growing up as an active kid in Tyrconnel who played hockey and golf, to getting his diagnosis of osteosarcoma at 11, and his journey to becoming a two-time silver-medalist Paralympian for the Men’s National Para Hockey team at the 2018 and 2020 winter Paralympics.
“The only question I had at the time was ‘can I still play hockey?’ because that was all that mattered to me,” said Dunn.
After chemotherapy and a lengthy operation to remove part of his leg, his cancer returned for a second time near his lung. After additional chemotherapy to shrink the mass to a point where it was operable, the mass was removed and Dunn was declared cancer-free.
“It was the best news of my life,” he said.
While recovering in the hospital, he met Tyler MacGregor, a fellow para hockey player from Forest, Ontario, who introduced him to the sport.
Dunn played in London at an intermediate level, before trying out for the Men’s National Team. He made the team at age 15, being the youngest member of the team to compete at the 2018 Paralympics.
“On that day, I answered my question for the doctor, I could still play hockey. I lived out a childhood dream — not in a way I had originally planned but still in a really meaningful way. Congratulations on your achievement, thank you for having me.”
The evening concluded with a slideshow of photos and videos of the players on the ice, celebrations of goals and game wins, and team photos.
The West Lorne U9 Comets went undefeated in their regular season and playoffs, and earned the titles of 2021 Christmas Cup Champions, 2022 Family Day Consolation Champions, 2022 Little Brave Tournament Finalists, and the 2021/22 U9 LL Silver Stick Champions — a title that West Lorne hadn’t won in 20 years.
The team consisted of Head Coach, Rob Tait; Assistant Coach, Karter Rowsom; Assistant coach and trainer, Terry Weed; and players Archie Lee, Nathan Pinder, Spencer Rainy, Sam Ryan, Alexander Tait, Macen Toth, Ryker Vergeer, Wes Vergeer, Lucas Weed, and Logan Wilson.