The statistics show the Victoria Racquet Club Kings Peewee B2 lost their game against the Kerry Park Islanders 2-1 after giving up two quick goals.
But this outcome will likely end up being nothing more than a marginal note to the emotional events that inspired this team of fresh-faced youth to help the wife of their assistant coach after she had received a diagnosis of breast cancer.
Players learned of Lisa Martin’s cancer Thursday night after head coach Mike Gamble had spoken to their parents in what parent Bruce Crowle described as a “very, very emotional speech” that reflected his closeness with the Martins.
“He asked that we as parents talk to our kids about the situation,” said Crowle,
After returning home, Crowle, and his wife sat with their son Hunter. “And Hunter immediately said, let’s do a Pink in the Rink. And I said, ‘You want to do it, we can do it.’”
The next morning, Crowle sent an email to the other parents to inform them of his son’s plans.
“And everybody said, ‘Count us in’ and it just expanded.”
Scheduled to play Sunday afternoon, players and their parents sprung into action. One parent baked four dozen cookies to be sold during the game. Led by Hunter, the players arrived early at the rink to raise awareness about cancer by plastering the rink and their equipment in pink.
“When they got to the rink today, him and his friends were taping up the Zamboni and putting up streamers in the parking lots and in the dressing room,” Crowle said.
When the team hit the ice, pink tape covered their sticks. Volunteers tied little pink bows around a bucket full of plastic ducks used during Chuck-a-Duck, a popular fundraiser at minor hockey games that sees crowd members throw little plastic ducks onto the ice after games.
Other teams playing out of the Kings’ home rink near the University of Victoria also got into the spirit by garnishing their uniforms with pink as well and donating their fundraising proceeds. Marty, the mascot of the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals, appeared on short notice to lead the crowd while wearing a pink hat.
This show of collective solidarity reached its apex after the game when the Kings and their opponents joined at centre ice for a photo accepting a corporate donation of $1,000 from Royal Bank of Canada Dominion Securities on behalf of the Canadian Cancer Society.
Crowle, who helped secure that donation, said he could not be prouder of his son and his teammates.
“It has been a really amazing 24-48 hours,” said Crowle. “This has all just exploded.”
Crowle said that hockey families and parents can sometimes get bad publicity. “This is everything positive about minor sports and a great community,” he said.
The team’s collective response is perhaps not surprising. “It is a very close group of players,” said Crowle. “Many have been together for eight years playing minor hockey.”
Ultimately, Crowle predicts that Sunday’s game will be the highlight of the team’s season, one that everybody will want to remember for years to come. “And if we can support our coach and a family in need in any way possible, this is the way to do it.”
Rob Martin – who watched Sunday’s game from behind the bench – deeply appreciated the effort.
“I cannot begin to tell you how touched I am by the display of team effort and thoughtfulness you showed us today,” he and his wife said in an email to the team. “Thank you! It was such a big surprise and I still cannot believe it! Our world has been turned upside down and today you have reminded us how important it is to support one another. We will remember Pink in The Rink and the funds raised in our honour for a long time to come and especially how you as a team made game day special for Rob!”
Lisa Martin already underwent surgery and is said to be recovering, according to Gamble, who sounded reflective Sunday.
“It just depressing, to be honest,” he said. “We are all getting older and these sorts of things are going to start happening more and more. It is just sad, because they just built themselves a new house. She has got a great job and this is a punch in the stomach.”
But despite the hardships, Sunday’s Pink in the Rink has shown that the Martins have a whole community in their corner.