UNB Reds Thread (Part5)

[dm8895]

I don’t think this will fully hit me until the first game in the fall. I’ve been going to UNB hockey games further back than my memory stretches , when Gardiner took over I was a 6 year old kid sitting with my father, I grew up going through his hockey programs and camps, I would improve more as a player after a few weeks with Gardiner than an entire season with my minor hockey coaches , he seemed a little ahead of his time with his emphasis on edge work with young players. As a kid who grew up around UNB hockey, Gardiner MacDougall was always UNB hockey for me. No tributes that are payed for him going forward are ever going to be enough. Thanks coach Mac for the best summers of my childhood and for spoiling us as hockey fans for the last 2+ decades.

 

[AUS Fan]

I don’t think this will fully hit me until the first game in the fall. I’ve been going to UNB hockey games further back than my memory stretches , when Gardiner took over I was a 6 year old kid sitting with my father, I grew up going through his hockey programs and camps, I would improve more as a player after a few weeks with Gardiner than an entire season with my minor hockey coaches , he seemed a little ahead of his time with his emphasis on edge work with young players. As a kid who grew up around UNB hockey, Gardiner MacDougall was always UNB hockey for me. No tributes that are payed for him going forward are ever going to be enough. Thanks coach Mac for the best summers of my childhood and for spoiling us as hockey fans for the last 2+ decades.

Well said.....

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

I didn’t grow up in Fredericton, and my kids aren’t old enough yet to be in hockey, so this news affects me strictly as a fan of UNB hockey for the last 22 years. I came to UNB in 2002 and have been a huge fan since…like you, Gardiner as the coach is all I’ve known and I realize how fortunate (ie/ spoiled) I’ve been to follow and be a fan of this program during his tenure. I think we all knew this day was coming soon, but it still sucks. Truly the end of an era.

Outside of the impact his loss will have on UNB and the Reds program, one just needs to read all the comments on social media to see how much of a massive void his departure will leave in the community and among young hockey players and students in this city.