The passion for hockey is a family affair for Robert, Curtis and Jarrett Fontaine of Humboldt.
The two brothers, Jarrett and Curtis, both have the hockey bug, and father, Robert, is living his dreams through his sons' achievements.
This year, the dream of hockey glory is becoming a reality for Jarrett, who, after a year of playing with the Tisdale Trojans, bundled up his hockey equipment and headed off to British Columbia to play for the Prince George Cougars in the minor professional Western Hockey League.
After an initial selection in the 2010 bantam draft at age 15, Jarrett was too young to join the WHL team.
"If you are invited, you have to go to the camp," said his father, Robert. "Even at 15 you go, knowing full well that you can't play, but they want to see how you compete with the other guys. Then they tell you what you've got to work on."
It's a process of patience and practice, and that's where the year of playing in the AAA Midgets has its rewards. It gives young players like Jarrett a chance to work on those skills before they return to the camp.
At 18, his brother Curtis hasn't followed the same route, but he is still climbing his way up the hockey ladder, playing this year in the SJHL for the Melfort Mustangs.
For a father who grew up playing hockey in Humboldt, it is a dream come true for Robert to watch his sons progress in the sport.
"I coached them for most of their careers, until last year," said Fontaine. "I coached two years in AA and two years in Bantam. Now, I'm running around watching my kids play."
Fontaine says Jarrett is just amazed at what he's experiencing in the WHL.
The team is on the road a lot, and the distances are vast between the cities in the league, such as Vancouver, Victoria, or Seattle, Portland, Everett and Spokane in the United States. Their closest game is six hours away. Like Jarrett, most of the players are trying to get through school as well as playing hockey full time. That's why the team has a full-time tutor that travels with them on the bus.
But according to his father, Jarrett is pulling through his "internship" as a minor professional in the WHL with some impressive statistics.
He's played 21 games now, and he's got three goals and one assist.
"A lot of people out here have said there's no way he'll survive in that league," his father noted.
That's because at 5'5", Jarrett is the smallest guy in the whole league. Still, he wasn't overlooked in the Bantam draft in 2010 or again at this year's camp, which means the WHL sees that the youngest Fontaine has potential.
There is still an item on his younger son's wishlist, his father says, and that is to play for Canada in the World Under-17 tournament. That may happen too, because Jarrett has been shortlisted for the 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
"Most kids want to be an NHL hockey player," said Fontaine, "but Jarrett has never ever said that that was his dream, his dream was to represent Canada."
