“I really feel like I’ve done my duty,” Sean Bérubé said Saturday as he watched the six young Ukrainian hockey players who had come to spend the school year far from the war stand next to theirs for the first time new players, teammates from St. Patrick’s High School took to the ice.
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The initiator of the project explained that after all this work, there is no question of missing this important moment, even though it is the first game of the season.
Photo credit: Nicolas St-Pierre
“I had butterflies in my stomach before the game. It’s like watching my children play, I’ve formed a bond and it feels really good to see that we succeeded,” admits Bérubé.
“It is certain that there is an enormous connection. I’ve spent almost every day with them for the last few weeks and I really feel like it’s special,” he adds.
Photo credit: Nicolas St-Pierre
Nervously, the host families were also there to support those they now consider full family members.
“It is important to come to Matvii and encourage him because he is part of the family. With ice hockey on the weekend, the schedule may not be easy, but we are happy to do it for him,” explained the father, who was present at the meeting at PEPS at Laval University.
Great chemistry
The young people also showed great things on the ice despite the little practice they had with their new teammates.
Photo credit: Nicolas St-Pierre
According to Danick Powers, director of the St. Patrick’s High School hockey program, the process of adding the young Ukrainians to the team went smoothly.
“They like each other a lot. They started adding up on social networks and building a great bond with each other,” he revealed in an interview with TVA Nouvelles the day before.
It was Yehor Kosenko who stood in front of the net and cleverly blocked his Ukrainian teammate Zahar Kovalenko’s shot to score his team’s first goal in front of the euphoric members of the host family.
Although six goals were allowed during the game, great goalkeeper Matvii Kulish excelled in the penalty shootout, not allowing a goal on the three well-aimed shots, giving his team a 7-6 win.
Photo credit: Nicolas St-Pierre