Hockeyville experience ‘something magical’ for Saint-Boniface students

SAINT-BONIFACE, Quebec -- The students ages 5-12 at Ecole primaire Sainte-Marie had a day off from classes Friday, yet a handful were outside playing ball hockey under faculty supervision around 9:30 a.m. Another was in the hallway stickhandling.

There's a perfect explanation for the attendance spike on a pleasant, late September afternoon. The school told the kids and their parents the Stanley Cup would be inside their gym for the first leg of its tour through the Kraft Hockeyville-winning community of Saint-Boniface. At 10 a.m., the Cup was taken front and center for display. Next was the entrance of Youppi!, the mascot of the Montreal Canadiens here this week for the preseason game against the Ottawa Senators at Colisee Videotron in Trois-Rivieres on Monday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN1, NHLN).

One observer smiled and mentioned the kids were loving Youppi! more than the Cup.

"It's magical for them," Sainte-Marie principal Stephane Lajoie said. "And for us as adults, having the chance to live that with the kids, it's amazing. And my staff was so lucky to live that."

Wearing No. 11 in the colors of the Saint-Boniface Boum of the Saint-Boniface Minor Hockey Association -- red and black with a gold trim and a black exploding 'B' in the center -- was Sylvain Bouchard, the emcee of the Cup tour. He and his wife, Nathalie Bourbonnais, moved here from Montreal in 2000, when the arena opened, to restart their lives in a new place. They learned that the arena was being built on the backs of volunteers. Sylvain was a hockey player and Nathalie a figure skating coach, relocating their family for a chance to work and play at a local rink.

"It's a big part of the family heartbeat," Bouchard said. "My three kids first skated down there. My wife started the (Saint-Boniface Figure Skating Club). I've been part of the first council of the local hockey association, the Boum in Saint-Boniface, so it was just natural for us to move and put all our heart in getting into the community."

The thread of the hockey community is extended beyond Lajoie's tenure as a principal. He was an educational consultant for Shawinigan of the then-Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 2010-20. He was there when forward Frederick Gaudreau, a veteran entering his 10th NHL season now playing for the Seattle Kraken, helped the Cataractes win the 2012 Memorial Cup.

Lajoie also worked with future NHL players including Anthony Beauvillier, Michael Bournival and Samuel Girard. His greatest lesson from the 'Q,' where he was also a billet family, was the need for discipline in and out of school and on and off the ice. He brought it to Sainte-Marie to do the same for kids in their formative years.

"The coach always told them, 'You are a hockey player, but you also wear the jersey all the time, so you have to be a (role) model also for the kids, for the community,'" he said. "When I worked with them, I saw the background of a hockey team that people don't usually see. All the discipline they must have, the good meal they must eat. Everything around the player is more than on the ice.

"My own kids were in sport. For me, sport is a discipline of life. When you are in sport, hockey or any sport, you develop a discipline for yourself, and it's a must in your life."

Messaging throughout stops at the Villa Mille Soleils Residence for the elderly, a photo opportunity with firefighters outside Arena de Saint-Boniface, Portes Milette Doors and the L'Intermarche supermarket was Bouchard's love for his culture and helping everyone understand the meaning of Hockeyville. Youppi! was at the senior home giving hugs to those too often stuck inside so they could join the party. Sophie Milette, the owner of the custom door manufacturing company that's the largest industry in town, is a benefactor then and now, her employees granted their day with the Cup because of her contributions to community events and gatherings.

Surprise and delight, two of Hockeyville's operative words, took over the supermarket to honor the legacy of the late Rejean Gervais and his family. His grandson, Martin, is third generation and opened the market with his grandmother, Normande, about 18 months ago. Rejean, who died May 3, 2019, on his 80th birthday, was one of the original 10 builders of Arena de Saint-Boniface after dissembled parts were purchased for $1 and shipped nearly 14 hours south from Raddison, Quebec.

"They are still behind us," Bouchard said, "and every time we were asking for volunteering, for money, all the Gervais family was showing up and making sure they're part of the living beat of the village. We made sure that they know it's a tribute to Monsieur Gervais (and) to the entire family to thank them for being there since the beginning."

A community celebration awaits Sunday and red-carpet arrivals of the Senators and Canadiens on Monday -- and an entire community supporting their beloved Les Habitants. Lajoie and his students will be at the morning skates and the game, six buses filled and others traveling with their parents. That night, a group of 40 will sing "O Canada." Ball hockey and hallway stickhandling will continue in daily life. Those kids' time with the Stanley Cup and their moment in the spotlight, once in a lifetime.

That is the essence of Hockeyville, and it's here in Saint-Boniface.

"It's something that they will never probably see again," Lajoie said. "So, they have the chance to see the Stanley Cup, to see Youppi!, to touch Youppi!, it's something magical for them."