SAINT-BONIFACE, Quebec — Classes were off at Ecole primaire Sainte-Marie on Friday, but the rink energy was already in the building. A few children were outside playing ball hockey under staff supervision, another worked on his hands with a stick in the hallway, and by 10 a.m. the Stanley Cup had taken over the school gym.
The Cup’s arrival opened Saint-Boniface’s Kraft Hockeyville celebration, putting the small Quebec community on the map ahead of the Montreal Canadiens’ preseason visit against the Ottawa Senators at Colisee Videotron in Trois-Rivieres on Monday at 7 p.m. ET. Youppi!, the Canadiens mascot, joined the school stop and quickly became a major attraction for the younger crowd.
“It’s magical for them,” principal Stephane Lajoie said. “For the adults, getting to experience it alongside the kids is amazing too. My staff was very fortunate to be part of it.”
A Hockeyville day around town
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The Stanley Cup began its Saint-Boniface visit at Sainte-Marie, where students and families gathered in the gym after a morning filled with ball hockey and stickhandling.
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Youppi! arrived to greet the children, bringing hugs, photos and the kind of noise usually reserved for a mascot break at an NHL game.
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The tour moved to Villa Mille Soleils Residence, allowing seniors to share in a celebration that reached beyond the arena doors.
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Firefighters gathered outside Arena de Saint-Boniface for another stop, highlighting the volunteers and local organizations that have kept the community rink at the center of town life.
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Employees at Portes Milette Doors received their own Cup visit. Owner Sophie Milette, whose company is the town’s largest industry, has long supported local events and community gatherings.
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The day also included a stop at L’Intermarche supermarket, where the Gervais family was recognized for its role in the arena’s history and the community’s volunteer culture.
The rink at the heart of Saint-Boniface
Sylvain Bouchard, wearing the red, black and gold No. 11 jersey of the Saint-Boniface Boum minor hockey program, served as the Cup-tour host. He and his wife, Nathalie Bourbonnais, came to Saint-Boniface from Montreal in 2000, when the arena was opening and much of the work behind it was being carried by volunteers.
Bouchard played hockey, while Bourbonnais coached figure skating. Their children first skated at the local rink, Bourbonnais helped launch the Saint-Boniface Figure Skating Club, and Bouchard sat on the first council of the Boum association.
“It is a huge part of our family’s heartbeat,” Bouchard said. “It made sense for us to move here and put everything we had into the community.”
The Arena de Saint-Boniface itself was built through that same kind of effort. The late Rejean Gervais was among its original 10 builders after dismantled arena components were bought for $1 and transported from Radisson, Quebec, a trip of nearly 14 hours.
Gervais died on May 3, 2019, his 80th birthday. His grandson Martin now represents the third generation of the family involved with the community market, which he opened with his grandmother Normande about 18 months ago.
Bouchard said the Gervais family has answered whenever Saint-Boniface needed fundraising help or volunteers, making the supermarket stop a tribute not only to Rejean Gervais but to the family’s lasting contribution.
Lessons that travel from the rink to school
Lajoie knows the hockey-development side of Quebec well. Before becoming Sainte-Marie’s principal, he spent 2010 through 2020 as an educational consultant with Shawinigan in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
He was with the Cataractes when Frederick Gaudreau helped the club win the 2012 Memorial Cup. Gaudreau is entering his 10th NHL season and is now with the Seattle Kraken. Lajoie also worked with future NHL players Anthony Beauvillier, Michael Bournival and Samuel Girard, and served as a billet family during his time around major junior hockey.
The lesson he brought into elementary education was not limited to skill work or game results. Hockey players, he said, carry responsibility away from the ice as well.
“A coach would remind them that they wore that jersey all the time,” Lajoie said. “They had to be role models for kids and for the community. There is much more behind a hockey team than what people see during a game — discipline, nutrition and everything that surrounds the player.”
For Lajoie, sport remains a daily teaching tool. Whether it is hockey or another activity, he believes it gives children structure and personal discipline during important developmental years.
Next puck drop
Saint-Boniface will hold a community celebration Sunday before welcoming the Canadiens and Senators on Monday. The teams are scheduled for red-carpet arrivals, followed by their preseason game in Trois-Rivieres.
Sainte-Marie plans to send six buses of students to the morning skates and the game, with more families expected to travel on their own. A group of 40 will sing “O Canada” that night.
The Cup will move on, and the school hallways will return to regular traffic. But for the children who got to see the trophy, meet Youppi! and take part in their town’s Hockeyville moment, Friday was the sort of rink memory that does not come around twice.
