Game On Magazine 2017 Nov Game On low res | Page 67

said. “But there were probably
100 kids on my street. As
long as I can remember I
just wanted to play hockey.
“WE HAD A RINK AT THE
schoolyard and we were always
there. They actually called our
street Sesame Street because
of all the kids on it. We had
kids aged 6-16 and we always
out there playing ice hockey
or ball hockey or whatever
hockey. I look back at those
memories fondly, for sure.”
He said that his first brush
with organized hockey was
“late.” “I was nine-years-old
and I played for the Selkirk
Jets,” he said with a laugh. “I
remember distinctly that my
dad wrote on the calendar
on the fridge, ‘Jets hockey 7
o’clock,’ and I was so excited.
I thought I was going to
Winnipeg for a Jets game.
“
TO RETIRE QUIETLY IN THE BACK
WOODS OF MAINE WAS INTERRUPTED
BY A SUCCESSION OF HOCKEY
OPPORTUNITIES
”
Then he grabbed my gear and
said we were going to play
and I was disappointed at
first, but I got my Selkirk Jets
jersey, it was one of those
great days. I was really excited.
It was the coolest thing.
“Then at 10, I made the
travelling team and it really
started taking off for me. I
played all my minor hockey
in Selkirk – peewee, bantam
and a year of midget – with
the Selkirk Fishermen and
then I went to Saskatchewan
at 16 to play junior for
the Lebret Eagles.
“I didn’t make the junior
team, but I stayed and played
Double A midget and then
made the junior club the next
year as a 17-year-old. I played
two years in Lebret and got my
scholarship to Maine, played
three years there and won a
national championship (he
went 28-6-3 with a 2.32 GAA)
and then had a nice 15-year
pro career.”
Hockey has been very good
to a guy who says he grew
up on the “other side of the
tracks.” To this day, he’s one of
the most influential coaches
in the game – especially among
First Nation’s kids on both sides
of the border.
Head Coach Red Gendron
at Maine was thrilled to offer
the assistant coaching role to
Michaud last spring.
“We’re extremely pleased
to have Coach Michaud join
our staff full-time,” Gendron
said. “He brings outstanding
knowledge of the game and
also exceptional skill as a
goalie coach. Given his roots
in Western Canada, he will be
very valuable to our recruiting
efforts in that region, as well.
As a former player here
at UMaine, his legacy
is legendary.”
For Selkirk’s Alfie Michaud,
hockey is just as much a part
of him today as it was when he
played his first pick-up game on
“Sesame Street” in Selkirk. ❍
N OV E M BE R 20 1 7 | G AM E O N | 6 7