Storm 25th reunion tonight

The greatest St. Albert football team ever assembled will huddle up at the Storm’s 25th reunion tonight at the Beer Hunter.

More than 30 Storm players and coaches from the 1990 Carr conference champions and Tier I provincial finalists will relive the glory days when they were the rock stars of the St. Albert high school sports scene.

“It’s going to be fabulous,” said head coach Bob Brayman, who flew in Wednesday from West Kelowna for the big shindig. “I bumped into Christian Bullock in a provincial park out in B.C. He is living in Vancouver and I said are you going and he said ‘I wouldn’t miss it’ and neither would I. To see all those guys and swap lies with Smoky (McLeod, the defensive co-ordinator) and Larry (Olexiuk, the offensive co-ordinator) and the boys will be great.

“There is going to be a bunch of laughs, probably more than a few lies and some exaggerations.”

The first St. Albert football team to win the coveted Carr crown and reach the provincial final finish 10-1 overall while setting the template for future teams to strive for.

“It was a special group. It’s kind of like grandchildren; your first one is special,” said Brayman, a popular Bellerose Composite High School teacher back in the day. “I was reading the scrapbook my wife, Diane, put together the other day on that season and I wiped away a couple of tears after reading it.

“It will be for me emotional. I’m 71 so it’s not like these things are going to go on forever.”

The last Storm gathering was in September of 2010 at The Rink. Full disclosure: this reporter was there on assignment and it was a blast.

“There were quite a few at the 20th reunion but there were a few that couldn’t make it so it’s going to be quite exciting this year,” said Dean Rozgo, a defensive back who returned punts and kicks for the Storm.

Trevor Lovig, arguably the most talented St. Albert quarterback to ever throw a spiral, is the straw that stirs the drink for the Storm anniversary bashes from his Montreal outpost.

“I definitely have to credit Trevor for bringing it all together. He has done a lot of hard work to get this organized. He’s getting quite a few to come here and a few that didn’t make it we’ll see this year so it’s going to be quite amazing,” Rozgo said.

So why are the Storm so tight after all these years?

“A lot of them went to school together but on the other hand they were also from competitive schools that came together as a competitive unit,” said Olexiuk, the Godfather of the Bellerose Bulldogs’ coaching staff. “It’s the camaraderie. They did a lot of things off the field like sleepovers at my house, team barbecues and we had a lot of fun on the weekends playing bocce ball. It really got them together as a team.

“They just banded together as brothers and playing together influenced them in respect of wanting to band together in future years.”

The majority of the 1990 team grew up playing football together.

“There were quite a few of us on the Standard General Colts and then we played all together on the Palmer 49ers and then in high school together. We were from Paul Kane and St. Albert High and Bellerose and there were quite a few of us that lasted three years together. There were new faces that came along in high school as well. It was great,” said Rozgo, a Paul Kane alumnus.

And on the field all the Storm did was win.

“A lot of the success has to do with what Bob and Larry and Smoky did for us as great coaches. They brought us all together and made us gel as a team and that’s why we kind of keep doing this over and over again to kind of relive those glory days,” Rozgo said.

In the metro Edmonton league’s third year of existence, the Storm rolled through the regular season while allowing only 10 points and no touchdowns in six wins and the last four were by shutouts.

The Carr final was a monumental 27-16 triumph against the Salisbury Sabres.

“It was our first year competing against Sal and some of those other teams like O’Leary and we just started believing in ourselves after a win or two. I don’t think we were expected to do as well as we did that year. It’s pretty special to have 10 points scored against you in league play,” Brayman said. “One of the reasons we were pretty good was our offence was playing against the best defence every day and vice-versa but beyond being offence and defence we were a bunch of players and coaches who cared for one another and I guess that’s why this group is special.”

The only loss was 42-0 to the 11-0 LCI Rams in the provincial final in Lethbridge. The Rams surrendered only one point all season en route to their third-straight provincial title.

Win or lose, the Storm did it with class.

“I always used to say to the guys you are representing your family name, your school and the city of St. Albert so act in that way and they did,” Brayman said. “We had guys with impeccable character. We knew we could count on one another and it really was a positive character that really helped our team. It was kind of like (former Toronto Blue Jays’ general manager Alex) Anthopoulos talking about his way of picking the team. He looked for talent players but people with character because they will always fit and always adjust to various roles that are asked of them. They don’t care who gets the credit and that was that team. They were fabulous. That’s why these guys are a pretty tight group.”

But success stories off the field are just as important as what the Storm accomplished in bringing attention to football in St. Albert during that memorable season.

“A lot of them will attribute some of the values and the attitudes they learned in football about dedicating themselves and working hard and that sort of thing to help them get to their life goals,” Olexiuk said. “I’m so excited about seeing these kids, these young men actually. It’s going to be a great time.”