Jesse Joe
03-13-2008, 07:32 AM
Leafs backup theft victim
Hockey team, businesses aid young player whose goalie equipment was stolen
Published Thursday March 13th, 2008
LONDON, Ont. - Nothing like a new set of goalie pads to mend a heartache and restore a teenager's faith in humanity.
And, for a spirit lift, how about a free week of instruction from one of Canada's most respected goaltending coaches?
That's what 15-year-old Emily Vezsenyi got yesterday when two city businesses stepped up with a set of pads and goalie skates to replace those stolen from a locker room at the Simcoe, Ont., recreation centre.
And a third businessman, Steve McKichan, goaltending coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs and operator of McKichan's Future Pro Goalie School, was trying to put together the rest of the gear Emily will need to get back between the posts.
"I'm just overwhelmed, I don't know what to say," said Emily, a gangly Grade 10 student from Simcoe.
"It reminds me there are people out there who are good, who care."
Emily's entire set of goalie gear, valued at about $4,000 and purchased over the last year or two by her parents, was discovered missing Monday.
Aside from the loss and hurt, Emily needed the gear to backstop the Norfolk HERicanes midget girls' travel team in Simcoe for the playoffs, not to mention her hockey class at school.
Lloyd Stacey, general manager of Impark, heard of Emily's plight and called Larry Janes at Pete's Sports.
"I just felt bad for her," said Stacey.
"I came from a middle-class family and if we'd lost (or had stolen) something like that, it would have been the end of my sport. I just felt compelled to do something."
Janes sold the pads and skates to Lloyd at cost, about $1,700.
McKichan has also promised to take Emily to a Leafs practice to meet goalies Vesa Toskala and Andrew Raycroft and give her a week of training this summer.
"In the 20 years or so I've been doing this we've had three or four similar situations and it's sad," said McKichan, before meeting Emily and mother, Lorrie, last night.
"It's like stealing a kid's new bike after Christmas. And it hits personally. It's a personal loss."
An elated and relieved Lorrie Vezsenyi said she'll return the new gear if Emily's is recovered.
Vezsenyi said she's hopeful the equipment will be returned. She's checked with pawn shops and second-hand stores to see if anyone has tried to sell the equipment.
"I just don't know how anybody could get any kind of joy from doing that to a kid," she said.
Hockey team, businesses aid young player whose goalie equipment was stolen
Published Thursday March 13th, 2008
LONDON, Ont. - Nothing like a new set of goalie pads to mend a heartache and restore a teenager's faith in humanity.
And, for a spirit lift, how about a free week of instruction from one of Canada's most respected goaltending coaches?
That's what 15-year-old Emily Vezsenyi got yesterday when two city businesses stepped up with a set of pads and goalie skates to replace those stolen from a locker room at the Simcoe, Ont., recreation centre.
And a third businessman, Steve McKichan, goaltending coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs and operator of McKichan's Future Pro Goalie School, was trying to put together the rest of the gear Emily will need to get back between the posts.
"I'm just overwhelmed, I don't know what to say," said Emily, a gangly Grade 10 student from Simcoe.
"It reminds me there are people out there who are good, who care."
Emily's entire set of goalie gear, valued at about $4,000 and purchased over the last year or two by her parents, was discovered missing Monday.
Aside from the loss and hurt, Emily needed the gear to backstop the Norfolk HERicanes midget girls' travel team in Simcoe for the playoffs, not to mention her hockey class at school.
Lloyd Stacey, general manager of Impark, heard of Emily's plight and called Larry Janes at Pete's Sports.
"I just felt bad for her," said Stacey.
"I came from a middle-class family and if we'd lost (or had stolen) something like that, it would have been the end of my sport. I just felt compelled to do something."
Janes sold the pads and skates to Lloyd at cost, about $1,700.
McKichan has also promised to take Emily to a Leafs practice to meet goalies Vesa Toskala and Andrew Raycroft and give her a week of training this summer.
"In the 20 years or so I've been doing this we've had three or four similar situations and it's sad," said McKichan, before meeting Emily and mother, Lorrie, last night.
"It's like stealing a kid's new bike after Christmas. And it hits personally. It's a personal loss."
An elated and relieved Lorrie Vezsenyi said she'll return the new gear if Emily's is recovered.
Vezsenyi said she's hopeful the equipment will be returned. She's checked with pawn shops and second-hand stores to see if anyone has tried to sell the equipment.
"I just don't know how anybody could get any kind of joy from doing that to a kid," she said.