Chapleau on national sports championship map as Doug Hong curls and Jason Ward plays hockey

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Chapleau has been on the national sports map in hockey and curling from Whitehorse, NWT to Dundas, ON, in 2014 as Doug Hong and Jason Ward were members of winning teams.

Doug was the lead on the Northern Ontario bronze medal winning team at the Canadian Senior Curling Championship while Jason played for the Dundas Real McCoys who won the Allan cup, emblematic of senior hockey supremacy in Canada since 1908.

Jason and Charlie

Doug, of course, for the few who may not know him, is from Chapleau, a member of the Hong family, outstanding athletes all. His grandfather established the Boston Cafe now the Redwood which is still in the family operated by his father Jim.

Doug has also been a great hockey player and golfer over the years.

As an aside, Doug played on the last hockey team I coached in Chapleau.

When I learned from Doug's cousin Kim that he would be playing in a national curling championship I contacted him.

Doug replied: "The team that represented N.O. last year did not fare so well therefore, we have to go up there early to play in the relegation round.  Double knock out, four teams for two spots. Hope to get through that and play in the round robin Championship."

That proved to be an understatement, according to a Sudbury Star story by Bruce Heldman who wrote: "The Northern Ontario reps won bronze the hard way, playing a possible record 16 games at a national event after three pre-qualifying games, 11 round-robin games, a tiebreaker and a semifinal, all in nine days."

Doug

Doug also won the Most Sportsmanlike Player Award.

“You only have to be around Doug for a short while and you have a smile on your face,” Robbie Gordon one of his teammates told the Sudbury Star. “He keeps the atmosphere light and shoots well and sweeps like a dog and has a great eye for the stone and what it is doing and has physical strength unmatched in any senior curling I have seen. It is important to have someone like that on your team.”

“Doug has been to five Canadian events and that is the third time he has won the sportsmanship award, and that is voted on by the players, so that tells you everything,” Ron Henderson added in the Sudbury Star story.

Turning to Jason Ward and the Allan Cup, Charlie Purich kept me informed on the series played in Dundas where he lives.

After the Real McCoys defeated the Kenora Thistles in the semi final game, Charlie sent me an email, "Jason Ward got one goal and three assists."

Born in Chapleau, Jason played in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens and other professional teams. Charlie, who worked as a volunteer at the Allan Cup, had met Jason earlier -- although they did not know each other in Chapleau. Small world!

Charlie still plays hockey and for about 50 years he has been the "catalyst" wherever he played -- and as a volunteer at the Allan Cup too.

In the final game against Clarenville Caribous from Newfoundland and Labrador, the Real McCoys won their first ever Allan cup with a 3-2 overtime win.

Charlie and Ray

Charlie's final sports bulletin: "Ray Larcher, my grandson Finn and I watched Jason and the Real McCoys win the Allan Cup in a thrilling overtime to defeat a strong team from Newfoundland."

Ray, who was a hockey star in Chapleau playing for the Chapleau Junior "B" and Intermediate "A" Huskies had sent me a message on Facebook that he would be there.

Ray "cool" as always

Congratulations to Doug Hong and Jason Ward on their success, and thanks to Charlie Purich and Ray Larcher. That old saying was never truer: "You can take the boy out of Chapleau, but you can't take Chapleau out of the boy".  My email is mj.morris@live.ca

PHOTO CREDIT

2014 Canadian Senior Curling Championships Sportsmanship Awards: Doug Hong (NO) and Catherine Derick (QC) (Photo James MacKenzie) from Canadian Senior Curling

SEE ALSO ICE TIME WITH JASON AND CHARLIE http://michaeljmorrisreports.blogspot.ca/2014/03/ice-time-in-dundas-as-charlie-purich.html