Jake McMillen plays 28 home games every year for the Battlefords North Stars.
On Jan. 17, he'll play a real home game when the North Stars take on the Notre Dame Hounds at the Carnduff Centennial Arena as part of Cameco’s Hockey Day in Saskatchewan.
Cameco signed an agreement to support Hockey Day in the province through 2018, with the hopes of raising money for the various communities for any upgrades the local arenas may need.
McMillen, a native of just outside Carnduff, attended school at the Carnduff Education Complex and was able to return to the school with three of his North Stars teammates, alongside Head Coach Kevin Hasselberg, to promote the event, as well as the importance of school.
He was joined by North Stars captain Ryne Keller and defencemen Michael Statchuk and Kendall Fransoo, as they played floor hockey against multiple age groups at the school.
The day-long trip started with a 9:30 a.m. flight out of Cameron McIntosh Airport to Saskatoon, before another flight to Estevan and a bus ride to Carnduff.
The first flight, originally scheduled for 8:30 a.m., was delayed because of mechanical issues with the plane.
“They probably could have left that part out,” Hasselberg said with a smile, yet a twinge of concern.
When the plane arrived, the players joked, perhaps to ease themselves.
“Check for any duct tape on the wings guys!” they all said, maybe only half-joking.
“It’s a little bit shaky up there, but once we get past 2,000 feet or so, the turbulence should die down,” said the co-pilot.
Upon stepping into the British Aerospace Jetstream 31 twin-turboprop plane, with maybe five feet of total head room, everyone sat down and quickly buckled in.
“Sixteen minutes to Saskatoon,” Hasselberg said with a smile on his face as he looked back at his players.
That smile quickly disappeared, as extreme turbulence after take off brought on white knuckles and nervous laughs.
Evidently, “a little bit shaky” is quite different in the eyes of a pilot and a passenger.
After meeting with other media at the Saskatoon airport, everyone boarded a larger plane for the hour-long flight to Estevan.
“So who’s the best team in the league?” the players were asked in casual conversation while awaiting the arrival of their second plane to Estevan.
“Us,” they quickly responded, much to the delight of their coach.
An hour and 40 minutes to The Energy City instead of a six-and-a-half-hour bus ride was a luxury for the players.
After a much smoother flight, everyone piled onto the bus with the players, perhaps predictably, heading for the back.
“Soo’s (Fransoo) has never seen the back of a bus before,” joked Keller, in reference to veteran players on junior hockey teams sitting in the back, while rookies and younger players sit up front.
After a quick stop at a local restaurant in Estevan to pick up some pizza for lunch, the road trip continued.
The players were told about 15 minutes prior to arriving in Carnduff that they were to give a short speech to all the students, which unsettled them.
“Five minutes!” exclaimed McMillen, when he was told how long they would each have to speak for. “How about two?”
Despite being valedictorian at the Carnduff Education Complex in 2013, McMillen was still nervous.
“I had a week to prepare that speech!” he yelled, as his teammates laughed.
After arriving at the school, the students from every grade were ushered into the gym, and the players were paraded in, greeted by a raucous ovation.
Hasselberg took to the mic to introduce the players, and give some opening thoughts.
“We’re pretty fortunate to talk about some pretty important things,” he began. “Everything we’ve accomplished, we’ve accomplished as a hockey team. We centre around some key values of how we want to represent ourselves; it’s much bigger than just being hockey players. We have to be good people, and in order to be good people, we have to make good choices.”
The players were then handed the microphone, as they laughed amongst themselves.
“We just want to take pride in anything we do,” said Keller.
“When things aren’t going your way, your attitude is what’s going to bring you back up and make you successful,” Fransoo added.
“School was always first for me and my family,” said Statchuk. “Hockey was second, and if I wasn’t committed to school I wouldn’t be able to play, or I’d have to miss a practice because school is more important.”
Statchuk’s brother Travis just finished a four-year career at Ohio State University with the Buckeyes, a career that saw him suit up for 92 NCAA games.
The students then formed a large square around the perimeter of the gym, acting as “boards” while the grades were mixed together to play with, and against, the North Stars.
Statchuk and McMillen were paired together, while Keller and Fransoo played on the other teams.
Keller seemed to enjoy himself the most out of the players, as he flew up and down the gym, celebrating jubilantly with every goal he scored.
“Where has that effort been all season?” laughed Hasselberg, as he was forced to do push ups after making bets with younger students on which team was going to win each game.
The final game was a matchup of the four players against the teachers, which ended in a 2-2 draw after a late tying goal by McMillen.
The boys then signed autographs and posed for pictures with students, much to the delight of both parties.
“It was a ton of fun,” McMillen said. “Coming back here, it makes me wish I could have experienced something like this when I was younger.”
Before heading back to the Estevan Airport on Highway 18, the bus stopped at the rink that will see the North Stars play the Hounds on Hockey Day.
McMillen was asked about any special memories he had from that arena growing up.
“Probably when my brother broke my nose,” he laughed. “He obviously didn’t mean to hit me, but he shot a puck at me. I still bring it up sometimes.”
Exhausted from their seven or eight games of floor hockey, the players slept on both flights back to North Battleford.
There was minimal turbulence on both flights.
