We all know North Bay will be represented on the slopes as Tyler Nicholson will compete for gold in the Slopestyle and Big Air events in PyeongChang.
But a little piece of North Bay Canadiana will also be on the ice.
Justin Peters, who is one of the goaltenders with Team Canada’s Men’s Olympic Hockey Team, wanted to pay tribute to a very memorable childhood place for him - the outdoor rink.
The 31-year-old, who has played close to 100 games in the NHL with Arizona, Washington and Carolina, decided after a family discussion to have a picture of his Aunt and Uncle’s ODR on Trout Lake, painted on the back plate of his Canadian Olympic goalie mask.
“I did some brainstorming with my family in our group chat,” Peters told BayToday.ca via email from Latvia as he prepares to head for South Korea later today.
“We quickly came up with some ideas for my mask. They helped me design the whole mask. Leckie Lodge ODR was a big part of our childhood. We spent many Christmas breaks, March breaks playing on the rink. My Uncle Mike spent hours and hours always making sure it was in great shape for us. So many great memories with my family on the ODR.”
Uncle Mike, better known as Dr. Mike Leckie to many in North Bay, says the idea of the Trout Lake rink brings back waves of emotions and memories for all the family.
“There were tears shed I can tell you that, I even get choked up talking about it,” Leckie said candidly about his reaction when he found out what Justin was going to do.
“If you knew these kids, they are tremendous kids, and the effort they put into their sport and their passion, I mean we all bawled our eyes out.”
Peters, who grew up in Blyth, Ontario, says he spent so much time up here, he actually became a huge North Bay Centennials fan and was actually drafted by the St. Michael’s Majors of the OHL, the year after the Centennials moved to Saginaw.
While Peters admits he never, ever strapped on the goalie pads on the Leckie Lodge ODR, he does recall it was on that ice where he sported goalie skates for the first time.
“They hurt my feet so much so my Aunt Heather gave me the liners out of her skates to wear inside my goalie skates,” Peters recalls about the skates that were a Christmas gift.
Peters, who is with the Cologne Sharks of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, is thrilled to be able to represent the Maple Leaf, as well honour his families outdoor rink.
“My Aunt Heather and Uncle Mike have treated me like their own son since day one,” said Peters, whose brother Anthony plays goal for the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.
“I can’t thank them enough for all the love and support. I thought that my mask could be a cool way for all of us to share.”
