Boyd Devereaux Laces Up - Figure Skates

FALL 2011 EDITION
Boyd Devereaux Laces Up - Figure Skates
By: Adriann Kennedy
If you’re not already watching CBC’s
hit show Battle of the Blades, you may
want to turn in and check on a familiar
face. Kitchener Rangers alumnus Boyd
Devereaux is competing on the third
season of the Gemini Award winning
reality competition. The show pairs
hockey players with elite-level figure skaters and in the end, the
winning couple takes home
$100,000 dollars for the
charities of their choice.
Think Dancing with the
Stars, only with the
added challenge of ice.
The partners must learn a
new routine every week and
perform in front of an audience
each Sunday for viewer’s votes. The
two couples with the fewest votes perform in a ‘skate-off’ the following night,
and the judges determine who will be
eliminated and who remains in the running for the grand prize. At the judges’
table this season are five-time Canadian Pairs Champion Sandra Bezic and
former NHL All-Star Jeremy Roenick
and a weekly guest judge, most recently hockey Hall-of-Famer Bryan Trottier.
On the show’s website, Boyd had nothing
but compliments for the people working
around him, from the contestants to the
crew. He also admitted that while figure
skating is meant to look effortless, it’s
often anything
lastic Player of the Year in his rookie
season. Boyd’s strong junior play carried over to international ice where he
scored the winning goal in the Gold
Medal game of the 1997 World Junior
Hockey Championships.
After his two seasons in Rangers
blue, the five-foot-eleven forward made the leap to the
National Hockey League.
Devereaux was chosen
sixth overall by Edmonton in the 1996 draft and
played over six hundred
NHL games with the Oilers,
Red Wings, Coyotes and Maple Leafs, scoring 67 career goals
112 assists. He’s even had his hands
on hockey’s most coveted grail - the
Stanley Cup - which he won with Detroit
in 2002.
but:” It’s a challenge but highly rewarding when you feel like things are going
right. And it’s fun - even just learning the
programs”!
Devereaux joined the Rangers for the
1995-96 season and played two successful years in Kitchener. In 110 regular season games, he amassed 127
points and was named the CHL Scho-
Now married, with two daughters, Boyd
is excited to be lacing up his skates
again and told the CBC that it’s brought
back the feelings of playing competitive hockey, including the nerves. It’s
just him and his partner out there, but
luckily for Devereaux, he’s been paired
with one of the best - decorated US ice
dance veteran Tanith Belbin. Formerly
www.kitchenerrangers.com
the co-host of Skating with the Stars
on ABC, Tanith won a Silver Medal at
the 2006 Olympic Winter Games with
Ben Agosto, the best result ever for an
American ice dancing pair. And while
Boyd cuts a fine figure on the ice, Tanith
might be considered the real beauty in 2006, she was voted ESPN’s “Hottest Female Athlete.”
Each skater that competes goes home
with $12,500 dollars, but the top couple will take home another $50,000
dollars. Boyd’s older brother, Mike,
suffers from epilepsy so he decided to
skate for Epilepsy Huron-Perth-BruceGrey, a group that provides support
for individuals living with epilepsy and
other seizure disorders. He grew up in
Seaforth, Ontario and he wanted to
lend a hand to a hometown organization. Devereaux told his local newspaper that he admires the work that the
organization does to promote awareness and hopes his share of the prize is
used to teach people how to recognize
and respond to seizures.
Skinner, Toronto Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf and Matt Nichol,
founder of BioSteel. You can watch the
videos by visiting the company’s
website at http://www.wakingsoundproductions.com.
Catch this Rangers’ alumnus on the air
each week and vote to support Boyd
and Epilepsy Huron-Perth-Bruce-Grey.
Battle of the Blades is hosted by Hockey Night in Canada’s Ron MacLean
and legendary Canadian figure skater Kurt Browning and airs every Sunday and Monday night at 7pm on the
CBC. You can vote for Tanith and Boyd
by calling 877-844-8152 or online
through the show’s Facebook account.
Visit cbc.ca/battle for more info.
He may not be an experienced figure
skater, but this is definitely not Boyd’s
first foray into the arts. While he was
still playing in the NHL, Devereaux cofounded his own boutique record label called Elevation Recordings, which
specializes in independent bands and
experimental music (the company’s tag
line is “Exploring the Outer Reaches of
Your Inner Mind’). Given his love of
music, you might think that he takes
charge of the music for Battle of the
Blades, but he credits his partner with
making the right song choices on the
ice, telling the show’s website ‘she
knows what’s skateable.’
Boyd is also running his own production
company, called Waking Sounds Productions, which combines Devereaux’s
love of hockey with his creativity. The
company produces multimedia projects for hockey players and trainers,
including fellow Rangers alum Jeff
www.kitchenerrangers.com
Alumni Events 2011-12
The Kitchener Rangers will be celebrating their 50th anniversary
in the 2012-13 season which is only 1 season away. Until then,
Alumni Events continue to occur to keep all Rangers Alumni connected.
The Rangers will be hosting our Annual Alumni Game. The event,
is open to all those involved with the Rangers over the past 49
years. Invitations and details of this event will be sent out in the
near future.
Mark the date of Friday, January 13,
2011 on your calendar.
For more information on Alumni Events or to update yours or
another alumni member’s contact information, please contact
Treena Hennessey at thennessey@kitchenerrangers.com or
by phone at 519-576-3700 ext. 21.
Blast From The Past
Above: Walter Tkaczuk who played with the
Rangers from 1963 to 1967. To the right: The
2003 Memorial Cup Champion Rangers.
Where Are You Now?
We’re looking for updated Alumni information.
If you have a new address or email please
send it to Treena Hennessey at
thennessey@kitchenerrangers.com
or by phone at 519-576-3700 ext. 21.
We would love to hear from you. If you know
of any teammates that you think we should get
in touch with please pass their contact
information along as well.
Feel free to share any exciting news or
events that you want us to note in our Alumni
Newsletter! We’ll be happy to spread the word.
Upcoming Game Events
Tickets are available for all
of our upcoming games.
Tickets may be purchased
by phone at 519-578-1570
or 1-800-265-8977, via the
internet through a link located
at kitchenerrangers.com, in
person at the Aud Box Office
or Centre in the Square
Box Office.
Remembrance Day Jersey Auction
Friday, November 11
Sudbury Wolves
7:30pm
Rangers vs. Police Shoot-Out Special Olympics Ontario
Sunday, November 27
Sarnia Sting
2:00pm (Post-game shoot-out)
Teddy Bear Toss
Tuesday, December 6
London Knights
7:00pm
www.kitchenerrangers.com
Head Strong Makes it to Semi-Finals
With your help Head Strong has made it
to the Semi-Finals in the Aviva Community
Fund challenge. Thank you for voting in the
first round!
Voting for the Semi-Finals begins on
Monday, December 5th at 12PM EST.
Your votes will bring Head Strong $35,000
closer to helping brain injury survivors
with their education costs. Zehr Insurance
Brokers Ltd has nominated Head Strong as
an idea in the Aviva Community Fund to
receive $35,000 that will benefit the
Brain Injury Association of Canada’s
Bursary Fund – assisting brain injury
survivors with costs associated with
post-secondary education.
It is the mandate of the Brain Injury Association of Canada to improve the quality of life for all Canadians affected by
acquired brain injury and promote its prevention. In 2008 the BIAC (Brain Injury Association of Canada) created a bursary
fund. The fund is managed and decided
upon by a committee made up of three
BIAC board members with specific background in awarding educational funding.
The BIAC Bursary Program was intended
to assist students living with an acquired
brain injury to pursue educational opportunities in English or French post secondary
institutions or apprenticeship/trades programs. Last year this program was unable
to assist any of the more than 25 applicants as there was no funding available.
an increase from the current two $2,000
bursaries (English and French) that are offered and provide the ability to be able
to help a higher percentage of applicants
who need help with their educational costs.
Be a Head Strong champion - VOTE and
PROMOTE STARTING DECEMBER 5TH.
Visit avivacommunityfund.org. Search for
FANELLI or ID: ACF11102 in the idea listings or the search bar located to the top
right of the web page.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER: You
must register to vote. You only have to do
this once. Each registered voter will receive up to 15 votes (note: you can only
Voting for the Semi-Finals begins on
Monday, December 5th at 12PM EST.
Brain injury occurs suddenly, without warning. In an instant life is changed, forever. Canadian Hockey League defenseman Ben Fanelli knows this first hand. In
October of 2009, Ben suffered a head injury that changed his life. Because of this
Ben has realized the need for Brain Injury
Awareness and funding. And that is why
he teamed up with the Kitchener Rangers
to start Head Strong; Fanelli 4 Brain Injury
Awareness: a program designed to raise
awareness about brain injuries and provide funds to various Brain Injury associations and programs.
Since its launch in March 2011, Head
Strong has experienced a tremendous
amount of support. We hope this will continue as Head Strong looks to the Aviva
Community Fund to assist the Brain Injury
Association of Canada in their mission to
provide educational bursaries to brain injury survivors.
Through the Aviva Community Fund we
hope to bring the BIAC Bursary Program
back and make it better than ever.
The Aviva Community Fund donates
$1 million dollars to multiple organizations annually. Head Strong has been entered by Zehr Insurance Brokers Ltd as an
IDEA (nomination) in the Aviva Community
Fund challenge to receive $35,000 for the
BIAC Bursary Program. In order to receive
funding Head Strong must receive enough
votes to move forward to the final round
of judging. We have made it to the semifinal round and look to you for your votes
starting December 5th to get through to
the finals. The top 10 nominations from our
category will advance. Once in the finals
a panel will score the top 30 ideas, rank
them and start awarding funding.
The goal of $35,000 for the BIAC Bursary Program will provide 10 bursaries
of $3,500 (English and/or French). This is
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vote once a day for any given idea). Come
back daily during the semi-final round to
vote. Promote our Head Strong idea to
your friends, family members, coworkers
and more. Use facebook, twitter and word
of mouth to help keep Head Strong on top.
HEAD STRONG
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