Taylor Clark

LJI Reporter

Hockey lovers are reliving their former glory in the rink with the Outaouais Recreational Hockey League.

“A lot of people wanted to play at a rink they haven’t played at since they were younger,” said league founder and community organizer Austin Gervais-Beauchamp.

What began as a few pickup games a week between friends in Aylmer has quickly transformed into a men’s league with hundreds of players, referees, standings, and statistics tracking.

“We kind of just wanted to bring hockey back to our region,” said Gervais-Beauchamp.

With a gap between minor hockey and the 30-plus Aylmer Hockey League, Gervais-Beauchamp and his friends restored to playing hockey in the neighbouring province.

“I should thank my friends and teammates. We were playing adult league in Kanata, and we’re all from Aylmer. It’s far and we wanted more ice, so we came up with the idea that maybe we should rent the ice in Aylmer every now and then.”

He said the next logical step was creating the men’s league.

The recreational hockey league consists of six teams and will begin its inaugural season this October, but Gervais-Beauchamp said a few spots were still available.

“We’re looking for individuals or groups of friends who would like to be placed on a team. But we also highly encourage people who can’t commit to playing full-time to come out and spare every now and then so they can at least experience what fun organized hockey can be in the region.”

The puck drops on October 8 at 10:30 pm at the Frank Robinson Arena for the first exhibition game where the Aylmer Yetis and Mighty Ducks will face off. Along with the Frank Robinson Arena, Gervais-Beauchamp said the league planned to utilize the Paul-et-Isabelle-Duchesnay Arena on Wednesdays at 10:30 pm and the Cholette Arena on Sundays at 10 pm. The locations and hours are subject to change as Gervais-Beauchamp works with the city to find better days or hours.

“Unfortunately, the hours are kind of tough because of minor hockey but it’s easily the closest we’ll get to reliving our childhood.”

A driving force in Gervais-Beauchamp’s community involvement was his grandfather Jacques Gervais, who has been forever immortalized in Aylmer with a street in his name.

“I kind of wanted to follow in his shoes … I love Aylmer just like he did, and I want to help bring the community together just like he did and make him proud.”

To register for a team, contact the league by email at orhlaylmerhull@gmail.com. To stay up to date with the league, visit their website at orhl.hockeyshift.com/home or join their Facebook group ORHL – Aylmer pick up.

Aylmer businesses looking to get involved with the league can also reach out by email. Gervais- Beauchamp said four of the six teams were still hoping to showcase local businesses with sponsored jerseys. Businesses can also donate to have their logo displayed on the league’s website.

“For me, all that matters is making the other people happy and seeing everyone back playing hockey again.”

Photo: Catch the season kickoff game of the Outaouais Recreational Hockey League in Aylmer on October 8 at the Frank Robinson Arena.

Photo: Outaouais Recreational Hockey League