By Rick Major
Dave Williams refers to himself as the other famous “Tiger”. Much like the Tiger who golfs, Williams has also had his fair share of press over the years. Williams, now 63, is a hockey icon, especially to the many who grew up in a generation where fighting was a major intimating part of the game.
Over a 13-year career, the Weyburn-born Williams amassed the most penalty minutes (3,966) — a record he still holds today. He also showed a scoring touch with 241 goals and 272 assists, many of which were secured during his years with Toronto Maple Leafs and playing alongside greats such as Darryl Sittler and Lanny McDonald. He also played for the Vancouver Canucks, enjoying career highs of 35 goals in one season, and ended his career with LA Kings, Detroit Red Wings and Hartford Whalers.
Tiger Williams, along with the 2016 Miss Universe Canada Siera Bearchell of Moose Jaw, and “Voice of the Riders” Rod Pedersen all attended the second Assiniboia Sports Celebrity Supper and Auction at the Prince of Wales on April 1. The full house was in for quite a bit of “fooling around” on April Fool’s Day, with all speakers providing wonderful entertainment about their careers and opinions on many interesting topics.
Bearchell started her career as 2009 Miss Teen Canada and second runner up to Miss Teen World and then went on to represent Canada at the 2016 Miss Universe competition placing ninth.
She started her speech by wondering how she ended up at a sports celebrity supper. But she shared her inspirational story when as a teen her family faced a devastating fire that destroyed their home. She wanted to give back to her community and entered her first pageant. She also found an excellent platform to share her feelings on important issues such as “body shaming” against young women like herself.
Previous to the supper, Bearchell also spoke to a group of 40 young girls and teens about being themselves, taking care of their health and not worrying about the stereotypes we face in our lives especially in modeling, dancing and even sports. Bearchell used some personal stories, as she recently completed a marathon.
As she travels across the country and oversees, the current Law student from University of Saskatchewan loves to represent Canada and use her fame to help others. During the evening, Bearchell was interactive and popular with the crowd and had a huge impact towards the successful fundraising efforts.
