Skip to content

BAYTODAY.CA EXCLUSIVE: A Vindicated Bruce Cazabon tells his story

“It’s been three years of having to walk around having to carry those charges with me everywhere I went and any social activity I was attending. That was hanging over my head.”
brucecazabonCUmay2016
Cazabon talks about the tough road he faced after the fraud charges. Photo by Chris Dawson.

Bruce Cazabon loves hockey and loves being at the rink, but for the past two years he became the invisible man with his collar pulled high and baseball cap pulled low.

He felt embarrassed...ashamed, and outcast.

That’s a far cry from the once proud and successful high school and minor hockey coach the North Bay hockey world had embraced.  

Cazabon’s life changed drastically three years ago when he faced multiple fraud charges connected to fundraising during his minor hockey coaching days.

He became the target of a three-year fraud investigation by North Bay Police.  

“It’s been three years of having to walk around having to carry those charges with me everywhere I went and any social activity I was attending. That was hanging over my head,” said Cazabon in an exclusive interview with BayToday.ca.    

“It was difficult, not being involved in hockey after having been in hockey for 30 some years not being able to participate in hockey because these charges were hanging over my head is very difficult.”

But Cazabon’s fortunes turned quickly in court Monday after receiving an absolute discharge after the former hockey coach pled guilty to defrauding parents and players of his former minor hockey team of $1,000.  

“How do I feel now? I feel vindicated, I feel the weight of the world off my shoulders and I can start again,” admitted a relieved Cazabon.  

“You get those charges and you say ‘how did I get myself in this situation?’  You feel differently, you feel ashamed, you feel ashamed that you put yourself in that situation and you feel angry that this is happening.

“The charge that I pled guilty to is a charge where I tried to help somebody.  I didn’t take money. I didn’t put money in my pocket but because it was team money I didn’t have the right to do that, and looking back at it, it’s right. It’s something I shouldn’t have done.”  

The 58-year-old admits that he made mistakes that cost him three years of mental agony and thousands of dollars in lawyer’s fees.  

 

brucecazaboncoachingBruce Cazabon coached the Widdifield Wildcats to their first NOSSA title back in 2009. Photo by Chris Dawson.

“I want to make sure other people putting their time into minor hockey please dot their I’s and cross their T’s,” said Cazabon.  

“When you are in charge of a team make sure that everybody signs an agreement that they’re willing to help and their jobs are well outlined because you don’t want them to come back on you and say ‘you never said that,’ or ‘we never agreed to that’. When you start running a hockey team try to surround yourself with good people, friends also that are good people, and you want those people to be your friends and stay your friend.”  

Cazabon credits his wife, his two children and his friends for helping him get through the nightmare.  

“I have good friends. I have real good friends that stood by me through this and never judged me and never stopped being friends,” said Cazabon.     

“I would say I found out who my real friends were and who was using me for their advancement.”  

Cazabon is uncertain if he will coach hockey again, but he still loves it.  

Once charged, he stepped down from his last coaching job with the Peewee AAA Trappers, the year after the team played in the high profile Quebec Peewee Tournament.   

The man who coached the likes of Craig Rivet and Mike Yeo in their minor hockey days says no one forced him to resign but he knew it was the right thing to do at the time.  

“It may have made me look guilty by stepping down but I wasn’t forced to step down. I thought it would be good for the association, the new association that was being created. They didn’t need that hanging over their heads,” said Cazabon about the Trappers AAA Hockey Association. 

Now Cazabon, who works at a siding business on Trout Lake road, says he will try for a fresh start; with this behind him.


Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
Read more

Reader Feedback