Game On Magazine 2017 Nov Game On low res | Page 66

SELKIRK’S ALFIE MICHAUD didn’t
have the greatest professional
hockey career of all time, but
that doesn’t mean he didn’t
have a good one.
After all, he played only
two games in net with
the Vancouver Canucks in
1999-2000 and then played
32 for the Moose in 2001-
02. However, in Europe,
he was a goaltending star
and that’s where he strung
together most of the 15
seasons he enjoyed as a
professional hockey player.
Eventually, Michaud hung
up the pads in 2013. When he
retired, he moved to Maine
and intended to live quietly
with his family on a rather
large acreage.
Not surprisingly, it would
be very easy to argue that
Michaud, who just turned 41,
hasn’t hung up the pads at
all. The Selkirk product from
Berens River First Nation,
is probably more involved
with hockey now than he was
6 6 | G AM E ON | N OVEM BER 2017
TO THIS DAY, MICHAUD IS ONE OF THE MOST
INFLUENTIAL COACHES IN THE GAME –
ESPECIALLY AMONG FIRST NATIONS KIDS ON
BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER
when he played pro. In fact, if
you want to find Alfie in the
spring, he’ll likely be at one
of dozens of big money First
Nations Tournaments across
Western Canada.
“I’ve been pretty blessed,”
said Michaud, who went
from volunteer coach at the
University of Maine last
season to full-time assistant
with the Black Bears this year.
“Out of retirement in 2014,
I walked into a job with the
Arizona Coyotes,” Michaud
explained. “I was the assistant
goalie coach with the Coyotes
which meant that I was the
head goalie coach with their
American Hockey League
affiliate, the Portland Pirates,
in Portland Maine.
“Then, a couple of years
ago, I took a year off from
coaching and just focused on
my passion – Dreamcatcher’s
Hockey. It’s a goalie school and
I mentor young First Nations
kids in Maine. I also did a lot
of travelling to First Nation
communities to work with
young goaltenders.”
During the past few years,
his original desire to retire
quietly in the back woods
of Maine was interrupted
by a succession of hockey
opportunities.
“I was talking to some
NHL teams, but this Maine
job was too perfect for
me,” he admitted. “In the
meantime, I’m working with
Reggie and Jamie Leach and
Shoot-to-Score Hockey. I’m
their goalie development
guy. I’ve also been working
with John Chabot and Denny
Lambert with Hit the Ice (the
APTN Hockey Show) and I’m
still playing a bit.
“I’m also part owner of
Rise Sport Testing. We’re a
multi-sport testing company
that provides tangible data
to measure sport-specific
skills for athletes. We do
combines and individual sport
testing. I’m partners with
my wife and Kyle Prystupa,
another aboriginal guy with
a hockey background, and
this is definitely something
we’re working hard on
and trying to push.”
Michaud was born and
raised in Selkirk and didn’t
leave until he went to
Saskatchewan to play Midget
Triple A hockey.
“I lived in Selkirk in a
neighborhood that you would
have to say was a ‘lower class’
neighborhood,” Michaud