Star studded panel chats about career journeys ahead of 10th annual Senators Cup

“Everyone on our officiating staff either is currently a referee in, or was a referee in both the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League or the WHL (Western Hockey League). One of the guys who we’re bringing back this year, Reagan Vetter, has refereed in the Memorial Cup final, so we do have a very experienced group.”

Having called games for players like Gervais and Ross throughout their minor and junior careers, he said watching them now play in the Senators Cup is like a full-circle moment.

“Sitting up here and seeing the panel, it’s pretty cool for an old guy like me to kind of reflect. I remember reffing Kishaun in AAA, in the [WHL], and in Yorkton. I reffed Roddy in the [WHL], and I just missed the King brothers. But it’s real neat the connections we make. Most of these players are going to know the officiating team, especially the referees. It’s really nice to catch up with the players and coaches on the ice and people in the building. It’s such a great atmosphere in this Senators Cup.”

Longtime WHL referee Troy Semenchuk elaborates on some of the rules ahead of the PAGC Senators Cup. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

Gervais, a former Prince Albert Minto, recently hung up his skates after a brief professional career in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He played parts of three seasons for three different teams, while also playing half-a-season in Finland’s Mestis league, the nation’s second-highest level of pro hockey.

According to him, the reason for retirement is to follow a calling that involves getting a degree in sociology and becoming a preacher.

“This season was probably one of the toughest for me, both physically and mentally toward the end of the year,” he explained. “I woke up and we had a road trip booked and my bags were packed. We were supposed to go on the road, but I woke up that morning and saw that my uncle had passed away. So, I got in the car, drove 27 hours and as soon as I got home, I saw my family hurting, they were grieving.”

He continued that there were two other deaths in the community around the same time, so attending three separate funeral services made him realize that there are bigger things in life than hockey.

“I knew that it was time for me to come back home, support my family, support the youth, and finally start chasing the dreams that I have away from hockey. I’m very big into my faith and I’ve always had a feeling that hockey was gonna be my opportunity to step into something that was bigger than that. And for me, my uncle left a legacy where he was very, very faithful and he was passionate about his faith. I think coming back home and seeing that impact that he left, I just wanted to do everything I could to continue that on, you know, help Indigenous youth as well as the Indigenous community.”

Gervais will be back on the Round Lake Bears this weekend after debuting with the team during the Big River First Nation Spring Classic last month.

Kishaun Gervais played for the Prince Albert Mintos in the 2017/18 season, where he had 43 points in 37 games. During his pro career, he’s played for the Tulsa Oilers, Adirondack Thunder, and the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL, as well as RoKi of the Mestis league in Finland. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

Meanwhile, Ross will also be competing, guarding the crease for the Canoe Lake Young Guns. This will be the 25-year-old’s first tournament of the year after finishing his first full pro season with the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder.

“It’s a lot of hockey,” he said, referring to the 72-game season. “In a way, it’s an advantage coming into these tournaments. You’re in shape, you’re ready to go. It was a lot of fun and I’m more than excited to be back here.”

Ross was also drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers back in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, a moment which he said taught him the most about himself so far in his career.

“Most kids that go in [the draft], you expect to sign after a couple of years, and it didn’t go that way for me. So being able to bounce back and know that it’s not over, still know that there’s a chance no matter if you’re [signed] or not, that’s always the mindset.”

Roddy Ross recently completed his first full pro season in the ECHL. Previously, he played for the Seattle Thunderbirds and Regina Pats of the WHL, and the U of S Huskies. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

Fellow Meadow Lake native D.J. King also spoke about his competitive spirit, only from a different perspective.

The former NHLer no longer plays hockey and instead races amongst the best in the World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA). He said the biggest difference about going from the NHL to pro chuckwagon racing was the family you meet along the way, but the one thing that’s the same is the environment that you compete in.

“They’re pretty similar energies. It doesn’t matter if there’s 2,000 people or 20,000 people in an arena, or 100,000 people at the Calgary Stampede. Your teammates on the ice will bring you in, and the horses on the track will zone you in. Then it becomes a blur and it all kind of levels out, it’s the same.”

D.J. completed his first full professional chuckwagon racing season last year, where he earned the Orville Strandquist Memorial Award as Top Rookie Driver. He registered eight top-ten runs and three top-five runs, highlighted by a top-ten aggregate at the Ponoka Stampede.

D.J. King spent six seasons in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals before making the switch to professional chuckwagon racing. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

His brother, Dwight, has also seen some success in his own sporting career.

Also a former NHLer, D.J.’s younger brother is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion, winning both with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014. Noting how special it was to win hockey’s top prize not once, but twice, Dwight said the most special thing about it was that his family was there to lift the Cup with him.

“It was a lot heavier than I thought it was going to be, the Stanley Cup,” he joked. “But the coolest part about it was that my whole family was there. You don’t get that opportunity to be in that position without your family. They all got to lift it also, which are memories that last forever.”

Dwight King played eight seasons in the NHL with L.A. and the Montreal Canadiens. Following his tenure in the North America, he played a season with Yekaterinburg Automobilistin in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in 2017-18 before playing the following two seasons with Graz EC in Austria, who are now inactive. (Image Credit: Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

The 10th annual PAGC Senators Cup gets underway Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. when the Pelican Narrows Raiders take on the defending champs in the Norway House Bruins at Rink 1 inside the Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre. Updates during the tournament can be found here.

-with files from World Professional Chuckwagon Association

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

by Logan Lehmann

Star studded panel chats about career journeys ahead of 10th annual Senators Cup

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