Martin C. Barry
Up to 500 members and supporters of the Association du Hockey Mineur Express Laval held an exciting season-ending event at the Cartier Arena in Pont-Viau on Sunday April 29, during which hundreds of players young and old got deserved recognition for all the efforts they made on the ice over the past hockey season.
The gathering was held to highlight the accomplishments of all the finalists and season winners, with a special ceremony near the end to hang their banners at the club’s home arena, said Carlos Ghazal, president of the association. In addition, there was recognition of the player, coach and manager of the year.
An exciting ceremony
The presentations took place in a dramatic fashion, with the young hockey players emerging from generated fog to make their way to the stage to receive their certificates. At the same time, a fundraiser was conducted for the Broncos team from Humboldt, Saskatchewan, where a busload of Broncos players was recently involved in a tragic accident that resulted in many deaths and injuries.
First to receive their recognition medals were the youngest players (MAHG Méthode d’Apprentissage de Hockey sur Glace). Some were as young as three and four years old. Novice and older players were also presented with certificates and gifts.
Getting started early
“Usually we encourage the parents to put the skates on the participating kids when they’re about three years to take them for a pre-skate at the arena,” said Ghazal, who MC’d the event. In all, around 250 players turned out, along with parents, friends and Express Laval volunteers.
The club has 500 players altogether, the oldest of whom are 21 years of age. The Express begins their pre-season in June when registrations for 2018-2019 take place. The next regular season begins in August.
