Local Rangers draftee Degagne starts life after hockey (continued)

Degagne lets his emotions get the best of him as he exchanges blows with an unknown goalie from the CHL.



CONTINUED FROM: LOCAL RANGERS DRAFTEE DEGAGNE STARTS LIFE AFTER HOCKEY.


With all the rumors of an OHL team coming back to North Bay, the former NHL draft pick believes the city should have another shot at an OHL franchise.

“We have the rink here and the fan base…. I don’t know what happened, how it slipped through the fingers, but people here like to support hockey. I think a lot of it was just nights when our home dates were, we never really got a good draw on nights of our home games,” Degagne said. “We have to see what we can do here and rally. I think this Hockeyville thing will really boost our chance of getting an OHL team back here and if they do it will be great for the city and hopefully they’ll do well in the league”.
With the Hockeyville NHL exhibition game coming up in the fall, Degagne is looking forward to catching the game and says he wants to see Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro, ‘Kid Canada’ Ryan Smyth and Jason Blake.

“I think it’ll be great for the city of North Bay to see the caliber of hockey that will be coming in here. It’s going to be fast, the shots will be that much harder…. it’s going to be hockey like most people in North Bay have never seen,” according to Degagne. “I’m definitely going to try to sneak in there and go watch. It’s always nice to see that kind of caliber play. You’d be amazed on what those guys can do with the puck”.

Although he has taken a step back from playing competitive hockey, Degagne, who has been an avid fisher for years, plans to stay busy this summer with a couple different ventures in mind, including his self run fishing charters business, which is practically in his back yard on Lake Nipissing. Degagne has a handful of trophy fish to his credit and takes pleasure in sharing his luck to tourists or anyone else who’s into fishing that needs a hand finding the hot spots.

“I’ve been doing it for five or six years now, but this is the first summer I’m really going to push it, I have some brochures out and am doing some advertising. I’m into the Musky and Northern Pike fishing which I do pretty heavily during the summer time. It’s something I do for myself, I don’t like to share my spots with too many people,” he said with a laugh.

Running the charter has plenty of rewards for Degagne, whether he hooks onto a fish or the crew he brings out reels in the big one.

“It’s a fun thing for me and it’s good to see people year after year catching big fish and having lots of fun,” When you see somebody with a smile and a fish they’ve never seen anything like before it’s a good feeling,” he said of his summer business.

Another activity Shawn has planned for the summer is running a goaltending school at Pete Palangio Arena. It’s something he says he wants to try out to see where it goes and is looking forward to the challenge, hopefully making a difference in a young goalies career.

“I’ve ran a couple other goalie schools over the years….like in Texas, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do here in North Bay, but I wanted to wait until I was done hockey. I’m going to run it this summer for a week and see how it goes. Already I’ve got eight or nine kids signed up and I’m looking to take about 20, so it should be fun,” he said of his goalie school.

“Its fun working with little kids like this, they all have their own personality, style and they all learn differently, you just have to get a read off them to see what they need to work on. It’s fun to watch them improve and if they make it to a higher level than you’ve done your job,” he added enthusiastically.

It’s true what they say in Degagne’s case, ‘when one door closes another one opens’.