The Cochrane Generals replaced their own helmet numbers with #9 on the weekend to honour a fellow league player who died this summer.
The Okotoks Bisons dedicated Sunday afternoon’s game against the Cochrane Generals to Zak Johns, a former captain with the Heritage Junior Hockey League team who died in a motorcycle accident last June.
Before the memorial match-up, the Bisons held a solemn ceremony on the ice at Murray Arena and the Okotoks team presented Johns’ family with his jersey – emblazoned with #9 – in a glass case.
As a way for the Generals to show their support, assistant general manager Mitch Lawson came up with an idea to change all the Cochrane players’ helmets to Johns’ number.
“I thought it was important to pay tribute by replacing our helmet numbers,” said Lawson, adding the Bisons shared their own #9 stickers – which the Generals also placed on all their helmets.
As a reminder of how these losses truly hit home for the young men on his team and the entire HJHL, Lawson said the Gens will keep the #9 stickers from the Bisons on their helmets for the rest of the season.
“Johns' loss really is felt league-wide … We definitely respect their organization and what they have accomplished. It's an organization I personally look up to, as they've won numerous championships, a few Johns was a part of,” he said.
“It makes you think about things a little bit. We’re all kind of competitors on the ice, but at the end of the day everyone’s human.”
-30-
