The Morinville Jets honoured their former captain in an emotional pre-game ceremony Sunday at the Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
The Jets retired the No. 11 jersey of Nick McRae, where it was raised to the rafters in the rink near the scoreboard.
The junior B team also announced the establishment of a memorial award and scholarship in his name. The award is for heart, respect, passion, dedication, team spirit and leadership. The $500 yearly scholarship is for a player who is apprenticing in a trade.
McRae was 21 when he died Sept. 3 in an ATV accident south of Edson.
McRae was buried in his Jets jersey.
"He was a very classy young man. He played the game with a lot of sportsmanship and spirit. He was a real leader both on and off the ice. He was well liked by his own teammates, by opponents and by the league. He was just highly respected and carried himself with a lot of class," said Scott Rodda, the former Jets head coach who delivered the eulogy at McRae's funeral.
McRae was a defenceman who wore the captain's crest with pride as an over-age player in his fourth and final season in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
"Nicky McRae is the epitomize of the CJHL as a hockey player in that league. He loved the game. He came to the rink every day ready to play. He supported his teammates. He was great within the community. He was basically just an all-around iconic player if you want to talk about someone playing at the junior level," said Clint Wandler, head coach of the St. Albert Merchants who served as an assistant coach on the Jets last season.
James Kryskow, the current Jets head coach, described McRae as a character player.
"We're building character on the team with him in mind through dedication, commitment and hard work," Kryskow said. "I've known the McRae family from the Rivere Qui Barre area for years and the family is very respected, hard working, dedicated people and a lot of those traits were passed on to their son."
The players on the Jets have worn McRae's number on their jerseys this season.
His brother Matt and cousin Jorey are wingers on the Jets. Jorey is the team captain.
The grieving process is still ongoing for the Jets.
"Some of the guys didn't want to be here (when training camp started), but I encouraged them to come and I think it helped them. Some of them had never lost anybody before," Kryskow said. "When something really bothered me or I had a tough time with something, when I put on my skates and played the game you forgot about it. It was therapeutic and that's what I said to the guys. This is what this game can do to you. It can be a release."
Kryskow said the ceremony prior to the Jets versus Merchants contest left his players emotionally drained.
"Before the game the atmosphere in our room was emotionally strong. The guys were excited and wanted to play. When I watched our warm-up in comparison with what was going on with St. Albert, I thought we had a little more spark, more jump," Kryskow said. "But after the ceremony, instead of hitting the ice running we hit the ice walking."
The Merchants won 3-2. Jamie Umbach scored in the first period and A.J. Yariwon and Matt Bowles potted goals in the second to make it 3-1.
Nick Pratt's second goal of the night for the Jets came with 4:18 left in regulation time.
"It's always a good, clean game of hockey with the Jets. Everybody is out there competing 100 per cent and it never seems to let down as far as the entertainment dollar goes," Wandler said. "They made it a tight game but the boys battled through it and pulled off a big road win."
In net was Justin Pawlenchuk for the Merchants and Brad Miller for the Jets.
"We just came up against a real strong goaltender who played very, very well. He stole, in my opinion, a win from us. That was our game to win. We outshot them tremendously but they capitalized on their opportunities," Kryskow said. "It took us a while to get into it, I believe, but we got stronger as the game got on. We played better and got more shots, more pucks to the net."
"I traditionally shake our guys' hands on a win and I just talk to them on a loss, but I shook their hands this time."
Big road win
The victory snapped a four-game losing skid after the Merchants (7-6-2) won five in a row.
"It's been a bit of a roller-coaster," Wandler said. "We just had to get back to the basics and make sure that we didn't get used to losing."
Friday in St. Albert the Merchants lost 5-1 to the Spruce Grove Regals (15-1). The west division leaders posted period leads of 3-1 and 4-1. In net was Pawlenchuk.
Dan Rombough of the Merchants connected on the power play with 2:15 left in the first period to make it a one-goal game.
"In that game we started to work out some of the kinks from what caused us to go in a little bit of a slump. We just came out a little bit slow and Spruce Grove is just such a strong team they capitalize on every mistake made and we just made more mistakes than them," Wandler said. "But it wasn't a 5-1 hockey game. Absolutely not. It very easily could've been a one goal game."
The Jets (10-6) also lost Friday 3-1 to the Chiefs (7-6) in Beaumont to end a three-game winning streak. Keegan Arcand scored and Miller was between the pipes.
"Our guys just weren't ready. They were just flat. Thankfully for our club, if it wasn't for our goaltender it could've been a larger loss," Kryskow said.
It's been a challenging start for Kryskow as the Jets' bench boss.
"Not only did we unfortunately start off with a loss of a very good team player, a character guy, but our ice plant wasn't working. We had no home ice. All our practices and all our training was not in Morinville. We started on the road quite a bit. Our first home game was in St. Albert. To compound all that, you've got a new coach and a new system. We also had some new players and we were hit with a lot of injuries from on the ice and off the ice," Kryskow said. "We had some success off the bat so that helped."
His goal is to lose no more than eight or 10 games this season.
"We've had some success when we've done two things; the guys play the system and they're mentally ready for the game. I believe that's been the reason for our winning record," said Kryskow, who played for the Jets in the team's early years when he was only 15.
