PORT HARDY — Almost a year to the day after Gilbert Walkus Jr. lost his life in a Port Hardy apartment fire, former teammates and opponents paid tribute to the hockey standout with the first Gilbert Walkus Memorial Game Friday at Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena.
The memorial was put together by Leigh Deans with the approval and assistance of Walkus’s widow, Crystal, beginning just a few days before the regularly scheduled Men’s Commercial League game between the Port Hardy Bulls and the Warriors, for whom Walkus played until his death on New Year’s Day in 2010.
Aided by promotion on the social networking site Facebook, the event drew an estimated 175 fans, who saw Crystal presented with Gilbert’s framed No. 10 Warriors jersey and then watched as his son, Braden, score the ceremonial first goal.
After the game, won 4-2 by the Bulls, players from both teams gathered for a group photo with Crystal and her sons Braden and Bryce.
“I wish we could have played like we have all season,” said Leslie Walkus of the Warriors, who are currently in first place in the league. “We started pretty slow. There was a lot of emotion out there.”
The Bulls (6-5-1) jumped to a 3-0 lead after the first of two, 20-minute periods. The Warriors (6-4-3) finally found their footing in the second period and crept within one on goals by Quinn Mellow and Eddy Walkus. But the Bulls put it away on Shawn Patterson’s insurance tally with 2:05 left to play.
Lucas Noel, Barney Wilson and Ryan Handley each scored first-period goal for the Bulls, and Richard Burgess collected an assist.
Trygg Carlson had two assists and Mellow contributed a helper for the Warriors in the kickoff to the second half of the league season.
Gilbert Walkus was annually one of the top players in the commercial league, and led the league in scoring in the 2007-08 season. His sons Braden and Bryce both compete in the Port Hardy Minor Hockey League, and many of their teammates were in the bleachers for Friday’s game.
A similar tribute was held for Walkus last year before a Warriors-Bulls game held less than two weeks after the fire that claimed the lives of Walkus, Peter Charlie and Patricia Charlie.
via bclocalnews.com