An Okotoks team has borrowed the name of a local legend as their moniker in pursuit of winning a national championship in a Canadian pastime.
The one thing the Okotoks Bearcats won’t have to do at Hockey Night in Canada’s Play On street hockey tournament next month in Victoria, B.C. is move the nets for oncoming cars or dig a ball out of a snow bank.
The Bearcats earned the right to play in the tournament by finishing second in the Elite division of a qualifying tournament in Calgary last June.
“We are just a bunch of guys who used to play in the cage (the tennis courts behind Snodgrass Funeral Homes) and we also played hockey together,” said Jason Caines.
The Bearcats lost to the Phantoms in the final of the qualifying tournament in June.
The Phantoms were second in the national championship last season and will be making the trip to Victoria this year along with the Bearcats.
The four Okotoks residents on the Bearcats are Caines, his brother Jamie, Tyler Farkas and Jamie Chard. All but Chard played road together while going to high school in Okotoks.
“We played tons of it,” Farkas said. “A bunch of us grew up near Woodhaven Crescent and every day after school we would either go to the cage or play right on the street.”
Jamie Caines said playing road hockey is a part of Canadiana.
“I think every kid grew up wanting to be a hockey player — dreaming of the NHL,” Jamie said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s street hockey or pond hockey, in Canada you grew up playing hockey… I grew up in a small-town in Newfoundland and every day kids would get together to play on the streets.”
Jamie would mix in some high school sports with road hockey when he moved to Okotoks. He is a former Foothills Composite High School Athlete of the Year.
Farkas and the Caines brothers cut down on the amount they played while they either went to college or pursued work. However, they would meet during the summer to slap the bright orange ball around.
Okotokian Jamie Chard became the new Bearcat goalie out of loyalty — Screech is thicker than water. He replaced the regular Bearcat goalie who was injured just two days before the tournament.
“There are only so many guys from Newfoundland living in this area, so we all kind of know each other,” Jamie Caines said. “So we asked him if he could fill in.”
Chard not only had to face orange balls being rifled at him in June, he had to do it while wearing goalie equipment in close to 30-degree heat.
“You are wearing all this equipment and it was hot,” Chard said. “You do see a lot of action in goal because it’s 3 on 3, but with the equipment on, you don’t feel the ball.”
As for the their nickname, you have to be an out-of-town potlicker if you don’t know where Bearcat came from.
“Bearcat Murray signed my skates when I was little,” Farkas said. “He’s part of Okotoks heritage — that’s why we chose it.”
Jim “Bearcat” Murray is the former trainer of the Calgary Flames and won a Stanley Cup ring with the team in 1989. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009. (See sidebar)
There’s almost nothing Bearcat doesn’t know about hockey. Almost.
“He doesn’t know about this,” Jamie said. “Hopefully, he is okay with it.”
The other members of the Bearcats have Okotoks ties, despite not living in the community. Kevin Phillips is a former Foothills Junior B Bison; Kyle Sheen has family in the community and Matt Harvey grew up in Okotoks. He is currently playing in Europe and is flying to Victoria to participate in the Play On! championship.
The tournament is being held in Victoria as part of Hockey Night in Canada’s Hockey Day in Canada feature on Feb. 12. There will be 54 men’s team competing.
The Bearcats have to pay for a large share of their expenses, including travel. Anyone wishing to sponsor the Okotoks team or help out with a donation can call Justin Caines at 403-816-0407.
