Sunday at Affinity Place was more than a couple of games in midget AA and bantam AA hockey to close out the season against their Weyburn counterparts.
Mike Sarada Memorial Day was put together by parents and friends and family to honour the memory of the TS&M Bruins assistant coach who died Jan. 8 and involved the two games, plus a pair of scrimmage type games with players and friends he’d played with, plus a ceremony before the TYS&M Bruins game, plus a silent auction and various other fundraisers for a coaching centre dedicated to Sarada.
“It’s an honour to be here and to participate in this,” said Tanner Denesowych, a first cousin of Sarada’s who played in one of the alumni games. “It’s very heartwarming to see all the friends he’s made here over the years and to be able to enjoy one last game with these guys… it’s just a great event.”
Emotion was is the air and on the ice the action was light and fun, but with other members of Sarada’s family in the stands, the gravity hit.
“You get to see all the guys he’s touched and all the people he’s played hockey with and you had a big showing of four teams of guys come out here,” said Cole Denesowych, Tanner’s brother and also Sarada’s first cousin. “It just shows how much of an impact he’s had on other people and what kind of character he was.”
Sarada’s character, honesty and humility struck the Denesowych brothers and others.
“I looked up to him being his little cousin,” Cole said. “But just like the kids on the hockey team he coached, they looked up to him the exact same way. He touched everyone’s lives.”
Tom Copeland, the head coach of the TS&M Bruins and the coach who worked with Sarada for the last few years, thought the day went extremely well.
“I don’t know what brought people out tonight, whether it was to honour Mike’s Legacy or the silent auction or what it was but it was nice to see people and I thought it was a really good day.”
Sarada’s legacy was remembered by a lot of people.
“It’s nice to see all the guys come out and support Mike’s memory,” said Jason Kuchinka, a former teammate of Sarada’s with the Midale Mustangs. “Just a good turnout and an all around good event.”
Dusty Smyth, one of the Bienfait Coalers, was also happy to recognize Sarada in this way.
“They approached me about getting the old Coaler team together and we had no problem getting guys to commit,” Smyth said. “Guys were coming in from Crosby (Montana), and guys that weren’t on the list calling to see if they could come do it. It’s pretty easy if you’re doing something like this for Mike Sarada to get guys. Everyone wants to be involved.”
“Having this memorial will really show to everyone that he was a standup guy,” Cole Denesowych said.
“He was a role model for a lot of kids,” Tanner Denesowych said. “He’s going to be missed but he’s also going to be remembered for a lot of positive things.”
Having the event hockey-centered was appropriate given who Sarada was.
“I think hockey was a big part of our lives,” Tanner Denesowych said. “it was always something we came back to, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, the first question was ‘how’s hockey?’ It was a major part of our lives.”
“Lots of laughs,” said Smyth, his teammate in Bienfait for about four years. “He was always nice, always trying to get guys up in the dressing room. Never too high, never too low. He was always the same trying to keep guys even.”
The video presentation that was shown during the ceremony before the TS&M Bruins game was put on YouTube, which was a highlight for Copeland.
“I think this all came together in… a month and three days, I think that’s pretty fabulous,” he said. Copeland thanked in particular Donna Fonstad, Tracey Tuchscherer, Chris McMillen and Bonnie Strutt.
“Kudos to the four ladies who did most of the legwork and had a lot of volunteers, so it was really good. I think everything right through the memorial game, I think the midgets had a good game and we had a good game tonight too. On top of honouring peoples’ legacy, I think I lot of people that didn’t understand that there’s good quality hockey being played in town and they saw that tonight.”
‘The next generation of hockey players that played under Sarada spoke at the video tribute, sharing their recent memories of him as a coach. Many of the players on the Estevan midget AA Apex Bruins, who played before the TS&M Bruins game, had a lot of experience with him.
“He had a huge impact on me and he was a great coach,” said Carson Benning, now a member of the midget AA Apex Bruins. “I liked him a lot. We all wanted to play this game (Sunday). “
As he still plays, Benning has thoughts of what Sarada taught him as a defensive coach years ago.
“He was a good coach and he taught us a lot,” Benning said. “I went out there and tried to do the things he wanted us to do as if he was watching today.”
