It is certainly a pleasure today to rise in the House and talk about two championship hockey teams in Simcoe–Grey. First off, congratulations to the Mike Jackson Collingwood Junior A Blues for winning the Ontario junior league title and the Buckland Cup last week. They are now in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, for the Centennial Cup playdowns. After two games in that championship series, they have a record of 2 and 0, beating the Steinbach Pistons and the Battlefords North Stars.

Mr. Speaker, there’s another championship junior team in the riding that I’d like to talk about, and that’s the Stayner Siskins, who are the winners of the North Conference final of the Junior C hockey series. The Siskins defeated the Midland Flyers, Orillia Terriers, Alliston Hornets and the Mount Forest Patriots to win the North Conference finals and earn a spot to compete in the Schmalz Cup Final Four tournament in Woodstock. And on Saturday, they lost in a very close semifinal game to the Clarington Eagles. The Siskins and the Alliston Hornets have a very proud and long successful history of winning for decades in Simcoe–Grey.

But before I sit down, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to mention the character of these boys both off and on the ice. The Collingwood Junior A Blues went grocery shopping in Portage la Prairie and gave $700 to the food drive that was matched by the grocery store for a total of $1,400 to the local food bank. Speaker, this speaks to the character of the players and their franchises and shows they’re champions both on and off the ice.

It’s a pleasure to rise today to speak about the long and proud tradition I have in Simcoe–Grey of creating elite athletes and great teams. We have competed nationally, internationally and provincially, winning titles, and today I’d like to recognize a number of recent additions to that long list.

Going back historically, we have two-time NHL All-Star and Stanley Cup winner Jason Arnott, from the town of Wasaga Beach; Team Canada’s women’s soccer gold medallist and youngest female Olympic goal scorer in Olympic history Deanne Rose, from Alliston; Canada’s men’s wheelchair basketball team member and two-time gold medallist at the world championships Chris Stoutenburg, from Collingwood; and, of course, we have Jozo Weider, Canadian Ski Hall of Famer and founder of Ontario’s largest ski resort in the town of Blue Mountains.

Today, I’d like to focus on Team Froud, who has won the right to represent our province at the 2023 Canadian Senior Curling Championships. The team is from Wasaga Beach and consists of members Kerry Lackie, Kristin Turcotte, Julie McMullin and is led by skip Susan Froud from the Alliston Curling Club. They’re coached by Al Corbeil.

I’d also like to recognize the great accomplishment by a local Alliston hockey player, Tyson Foerster, who, on March 9, 2023, played his first NHL game for the Philadelphia Flyers. Tyson is a former Barrie Colts player and was drafted by the Flyers in 2020. Tyson had all 11 members of his family watching the game, and his brother Dawson made the 20-hour drive from British Columbia to watch him play.

I want to congratulate all these athletes on their great accomplishments and wish them well in the future.