Hunt Bros. turning
Maginot Arena into
roller hockey central
By Scott Taylor, Photos courtesy Michael & Frank Hunt, Central Canadian Roller Hockey
Mike and Frank Hunt with skates and a
couple of roller hockey pucks
If you happen to see or hear a little
extra activity around Maginot Arena in
St. Boniface these days, chalk it up to
roller hockey.
Seems a pair of ex-hockey playersturned-entrepreneurs, Michael
and Frank Hunt have taken over
three floors of the old arena and are
preparing to bring one of the most
popular forms of hockey in the United
States back to Manitoba.
The plan, according to Michael Hunt,
is to create Central Canadian Roller
Hockey as an off-season alternative for
kids and adults who love ice hockey
but aren’t sure they want to play the
game 12 months of the year.
“We are going all in to give an
alternate sport for kids to play and
along with that, help ice hockey players
develop incredible skill sets to help the
progress in their development,” said
Michael Hunt.
“I have permission from NHL players
Bobby Ryan, Pat Maroon, Chris Terry,
Cory Conacher to use their likenesses
and let everyone know that roller
hockey played an integral part in
them making the NHL. The number
of players playing in the NHL right
now with roller hockey backgrounds is
staggering and at some point we have
to grow it as a viable sport, not only for
roller hockey, but also to enhance our
ice hockey players.
“We have heard it forever, stop
playing ice hockey year round, well
here is an option. Plus we’re looking to
have a year round facility.”
Frank Hunt, 56, was an ice hockey
goaltender who starred in the old
26 / sportslife
CASH League. He played for the E.K.Elmwood Millionaires, St. Boniface
Mohawks and ended his career with
the Thunder Bay Twins where he led
the club to an Allan Cup in 1984. He
had a try out with the Jets as a 20-yearold in 1979, but didn’t make the team
and went back to senior hockey.
Michael Hunt, 47, has been one of
Canada’s great roller hockey players.
He won a bronze medal at the 2003
FIRS World Championship in Czech
Republic, a silver medal at the 2004
Worlds in London, Ont., a silver at
the 2005 World Championships in
Duisberg, Germany and a gold at the
2008 IIHF World Championships in
Bratislava, Slovakia. He has been a 13time national champion and a seventime national professional champion
with the legendary Team Rink Rat.
He’s also a certified hockey and roller
hockey coach.
Of course, he was originally a hockey
player who started his career in St.
James. He played high school hockey
with the John Taylor Pipers, then junior
with the St. James Canucks and then
Senior with the Winkler Royals. But
he didn’t earn international success
until he moved to Boston and started
playing pro roller hockey.
Now he wants to give back some of
the joy he’s received from the game to
today’s young players.
“I love this game for so many
reasons,” he said. “We play four-onfour during regulation time. There is no
icing, no offside and no body contact.
It gives players more