Cap-Pelé hails hometown hero
Published Monday June 15th, 2009
Village throws Patrice Cormier a birthday party to remember
There aren't many people who have hundreds of guests, including the premier of New Brunswick, at their 19th birthday party -- but not everyone has had as good a year as Patrice Cormier.
The Village of Cap-Pelé came out to its local arena to celebrate the minor hockey star yesterday afternoon. The New Jersey Devils' draft pick won a gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship in January and played for Rimouski as they hosted the Memorial Cup in May. A crowd of about 300 watched highlights of the gold-medal game and sang happy birthday to honour the local player.
"It's pretty special," Cormier said after the ceremony, which included an appearance by 10 of his former Cap-Pelé teammates. "I was surprised, I didn't know the team was coming out. It's an amazing feeling. I won't forget this for the rest of my life."
Jimmy Dubreuil, Cormier's coach when he was four years old and later as he rose through the minor hockey ranks, was master of ceremonies during the event, which emphasized the role Cormier's family and community played in his development. A musical slide show charted his growth from a baby, through childhood and into the rising star he is today.
Ever-present in the photos and videos from his youth was his older brother Kevin. The two were shown practicing their stick-handling and shooting in their driveway as kids and playing major-junior hockey together in Rimouski. The brothers will soon have the chance to relive old times on a much bigger stage.
Also drafted for the NHL, though he has yet to play in the league, New Jersey acquired Kevin from the Phoenix Coyotes in September.
"We're going to go to camp together and I think we'll go from there," the younger Cormier said. "We'll be training together this summer. It's a good opportunity for us," he said, adding that he isn't setting any specific goals for his first NHL training camp.
"I don't have any hopes. My only hope is staying healthy and going there and working hard. That's the only thing right now."
Premier Shawn Graham made an appearance on stage, where he recalled meeting Cormier when he captained the New Brunswick hockey team at the 2007 Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse. He said Cormier's parents' pride and support for their son was evident even then.
"I would have loved to see the smile on their faces the night you won the gold medal," Graham said during the speech.
Afterward, Graham heaped further praise on Cormier and lauded the spirit of Cap-Pelé.
"Patrice has become an ambassador for the province of New Brunswick. I think it's exciting that you have two brothers now, possibly, being on the ice at the same time for the New Jersey. It's the middle of the summer, (two days) after the Stanley Cup, and to have the community come out to support two rising stars speaks volumes to the heart of this community."
A big round of applause rose from the crowd when a photo of a young Cormier, dressed as a devil for Halloween, was shown with a current photo of the player in his New Jersey sweater with the caption "Then and Now." Cormier said being back in his old rink and seeing the slide show of his life brought back a lot of memories.
"We have a lot of banners up there from atom and peewee and everything. Some of those old pictures I haven't seen for a while and some of them I never saw, so it was good, a great feeling. A great day."
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We are surrounded by heroes.
I would argue that Patrice has achieved some pretty outstanding things in his life, too.
By definition, Patrice Cormier is a hero. And more readers are interested in this story than the one on A7 — that's why it's on the front page.
E. Robichaud, Dieppe: Open a dictionary and look for yourself. If you don't like the definition, take your semantic beef up with Oxford, not the Times & Transcript (the editors got the definition right) and certainly not with a 19-year-old kid from Cap-Pelé who has made his community proud.