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Tillsonburg Thunder’s Andre Roy did not expect his name to be called Saturday for the Hockey Fights Cancer red-carpet ceremonial faceoff at the Kinsmen Memorial Arena.
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Roy is a goalie and goalies never take faceoffs. That honor normally goes to a captain, whether the captain is a forward or defenceman.
“That was the first faceoff I ever took, probably, in my life,” Roy smiled. “That was different, eh? I’ll probably withdraw (as a center) after that. ”
Roy was actually Tillsonburg’s backup Saturday and had to come off the bench to face off against Alvinston Killer Bees’ Justin Lightfood.
“To be honest, that was a surprise, I did not know that was going to happen,” said Roy, who grew up playing hockey in Chatham but now lives in Woodstock. “They didn’t tell me beforehand. They called my name and I said, ‘What! What’s happening? ‘”
A week earlier, promoting the Hockey Fights Cancer Night, several Thunder players had filled out small Hockey Fights Cancer signs, “I fight for… ‘
Andre is fighting for his mom, Annette Roy, who was at Saturday’s game and watched Andre take the pre-game faceoff.
“I think she was diagnosed in 2012. She had breast cancer. She went through chemo and all that, and she beat it, and she’s doing well now. ”
The Hockey Fights Cancer initiative is a new one in the WOSHL, but it will continue in the future. Each team hosted a HFC night and auctioned special game-worn purple jerseys after the game with the team’s logo on the front. Tillsonburg raised $ 3,015 for cancer research through silent and live auctions.
“Usually you see that at NHL games in October and November, but it’s very unique and it’s really nice that the Super League is doing that this year – and it’s good to be part of it. It’s for a good cause obviously and it means a lot. Everybody’s been through something with cancer, people who have been affected directly or indirectly. ”
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Roy’s No. 1 jersey ‘sold’ before Saturday’s post-game live auction to his mother, Annette.
“She bid $ 300, so we gave that to her.
“We want to raise a lot of money and I think everyone is going to step up,” Roy predicted before the auction. “It’s for a good cause and it’s important to everybody. I think one of the other goalies, one of his friends bid $ 300 on his jersey as well. So the bar is set kind of high right now but we will see how it goes. ”
A ‘rookie’ with the Tillsonburg Thunder, Roy said, “It’s been great so far, it’s been a lot of fun with the boys. We’ve got the first half of the season under us, not exactly where we want to be (6-9-0) but we know what we have to do. We know we have some things to work on and in the second half we’re going to turn it around a little bit. ”
Alvinston won Saturday’s WOSHL game 8-5, earning their first win of the season. The Killer Bees scored three unanswered goals in a 30-second span midway through the third period to pull away.
Tillsonburg is host to visiting Strathroy on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 7:30 pm