Annually, the Pembina Valley Twisters Manitoba Major Junior hockey club hosts a fundraiser to support CancerCare Manitoba. The fundraiser started in 2012 as a tribute to Dale Rempel after his passing.
Dale loved hockey. He was a player and later became an owner of the Twisters hockey club. Dale and the Rempel family received support from CancerCare Manitoba when he was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2008.
Rempel Insurance and the Twisters wanted to acknowledge the support CancerCare Manitoba provided to the Rempels by teaming up in hockey to raise awareness and donations for the cause.
Scheduling their regular season games for Feb. 3, the Twisters, South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League’s Red River Wild, and the Morris School Mavericks put their skates to ice for the day-long fundraiser for CancerCare. The team partnership also included the Town of Morris Winter Carnival and the Morris Curling club.
The Mavericks welcomed Brody Gobiel to centre ice for a ceremonial puck drop. In 2017, when Gobiel was seven years old, his family was told he had an Ependymoma, a rare brain tumour.
Since then, Gobiel has endured several surgeries, two rounds of radiation chemo, and many trips to CancerCare and the Winnipeg Children’s Hospital.
Besides gate sales, the Morris Mavericks hosted a chuck-a-puck contest. Participants purchased a numbered puck and got to throw it onto the ice between the second and third period. Closest to the dot at centre ice won a prize.
The annual fundraiser holds special meaning for players on the Red River Wild.
Captain Brendan Heppner held his hand to his heart as spoke of his relationship to Dale.
“He recruited me to play for the Twisters when I was younger. In 2007, after a practice, Dale just said, ‘Hey you want to come work for me in my business.’ He was a mentor to me.”
Wild players Jonah Wasylask and Gavin Froese pledged to shave their heads if the team could raise $2,000. The clippers were in action after the game to deliver on the promise.
Photos by Lana Meier/Voice
The Red River Wild’s Jonah Wasylak, left, and Gavin Froese, right, agreed to shave their heads if they raised $2,000 in support of CancerCare Manitoba Foundation. The team raised $4,020 and teammate Colin Baudry joined in for support.
Cancer has of course touched many others in the local hockey community.
Corey Mazinke, who played 136 games with 143 points as a forward for the Twisters from 2013 to 2017, lost his grandfather to cancer.
Since 2020, Katherin Enns, mother to the Twisters’ Logan Enns, has been battling the disease.
“During my 2021-2022 season, my mom had surgery in her battle with cancer,” Logan Enns says.
The 20-year-old netminder is in his fifth season with the club. Enns and his younger sister live in Winkler with their mom.
“I don’t like to talk about it, but my mom had chemo on Wednesday,” he shares. “She goes every two weeks. It is working well every round. It is shrinking.”
The plumber’s apprentice was MMJHL’s player of the month in December, helping the Twisters earn a 13-game winning run, one win short of tying the club’s record of 14 consecutive wins.
The Twisters organized a silent auction for CancerCare featuring a hockey stick signed by Bobby Hull alongside other sports memorabilia.
The day’s 50/50 ticket sales generated a prize of $1,062.50 won by Nelson Norris
Pat Schmitke, part owner of the Twisters, sat in the dunk tank earlier in the afternoon. He promised that if $500 was raised he would match the amount and take a dunk.
While seated over the water, the event coordinator sold the chance to pull the lever that put the shirtless owner in the water for an additional $40 donation.
The Pembina Valley Twisters players and team staff also pledged to have their heads shaved if fundraising efforts for the day reached $20,000.
The hair clippers came out after their game, as the final total came to $22,008.
Photo by Sean Conway/Voice
