'Mission accomplished': Ukrainian peewee hockey team arrives in Canada for Quebec tournament
CBC
Outfitted in matching tracksuits, 18 Ukrainian kids' jaws dropped as they saw the rink at the Vidéotron Centre in Quebec City for the first time.
The 11 and 12-year-old boys had been travelling for over 24 hours, but some gasped as others looked wide-eyed seeing the size of the arena they will play in as part of the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament.
The boys arrived on Wednesday evening with their four coaches and were welcomed by volunteer host families and organizers after their long journey.
Sean Bérubé met the group at the Montreal airport earlier that day — a goal he had been working toward for months.
He volunteered his time helping the team's coach Yevhenii Pysarenko with paperwork and visas from Immigration Canada — finally getting all the kids documents in time for the competition they had long set their sights on.
"I feel like a mission accomplished. So I'm gonna sleep well tonight," said Bérubé, adding that he hopes the team will have a great three weeks in Canada.
"I just want them to live the experience like they're an NHL star and put their mind on hockey instead of being worried."
Pysarenko began forming the team as early as March 2022, not long after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He played hockey with Bérubé in the 90s in Ukraine and even played in the Quebec Pee-Wee tournament himself decades ago.
When Bérubé visited Ukraine in an attempt to get his former coach out of the country after the war broke out, his old teammate Pysarenko lent a hand.
To thank Pysarenko for his aid, Bérubé offered to buy him a beer, but he asked for a slightly bigger favour instead — support in getting a Ukrainian hockey team to Canada.
"I kind of joked it off," recalled Bérubé. "I didn't think he was that serious … but I think the project grew in him."
What seemed like a dream turned into reality, said Pysarenko.
"Before it was mission impossible and now it is a miracle on the ice," said Pysarenko. "We tried to explain [to] them it's special. It's not only hockey, it's beyond hockey and we're like messengers for the world."