Brian Foreman is a hockey dad. A good player in his day, he spent three seasons with the Boston University Terriers in the mid-1980s and was an assistant coach with the MJHL’ s old Winnipeg South Blues in 1991 and‘ 92.
When his son Brayden was born, it didn’ t take dad long to get his boy to Fort Garry’ s outdoor rinks. Considering that Brian’ s dad, Ted, was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011, it’ s pretty clear that hockey is part of the Foreman bloodline.
“ Brayden started playing when he was five, like every other child I guess,” said Brian with a smile.“ He played A-1 hockey from eight through 10-years-old and then joined the Twins organization. He played out of Fort Garry North in Whyte Ridge where he grew up. He played his minor Peewee and Peewee year with the Twins and then Bantam 2 and Bantam 1 with the Monarchs. He’ s now playing with the City Midget Monarchs, his third year with the Monarchs organization.”
These days, dad is kind of looking forward to next year. That’ s when the kid they call,“ Brady,” will get his driver’ s license, giving dad a little more freedom, although it’ s unlikely Brian will ever miss any of Brady’ s games.
After all, Brian Foreman, his daughter Madison, a student at the University of Winnipeg, and Brady, have been through a lot in the last four years. Probably a lot more than any family should be forced to go through.
On Sept. 29, 2015, Brian’ s wife and Madison and Brady’ s mom, Marnie, passed away after a three-year battle with cancer. It wasn’ t an easy time for anyone, but for Brady, who was 11 when his mom was diagnosed, it could have been emotionally crippling.
Fortunately, for Brady and his family, there was more than one support system.
“ He’ s gone through a lot,” said Brian, 50, a regional sales manager with the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer.“ His mom was diagnosed with cancer right around his 1 1th birthday. No 11-year-old should have to see his mom go through that. But he had hockey. He played
through three pretty tough years and right before his season in Bantam 1, Marnie passed away.
“ Last year, he played through the whole season with that on his mind and he had a pretty good year. He’ s persevered through a lot. I’ m very proud of him and my daughter. They went through a lot and they handled it with dignity.”
For Brady himself, nothing has been easy. After all, his mom went to all of his games and there was a big hole in his heart when she passed. But hockey was something they shared and it played a major role in his ability to process and accept his mom’ s death.“ My mom never missed a game, no matter how sick she got,” Brady recalled.“ I tried
He’ s persevered through a lot. I’ m very proud of him and my daughter. They went through a lot and they handled it with dignity
2016- 17 ROSTER DEADLINE EDITION GAME ON 15