Inductees for year 1996

Gerald "Lou" Ouellette

Category: Individual

Gerald (Lou) Ouellette was one of the most skilled Bathurst hockey players to ever lace on skates, and was destined for great things. In his Junior years, in the early 1960s, he honed his hockey skills in Ontario, playing alongside and against one of the most notable names in the sport: Bobby Orr. He went on to lead teams to provincial and Maritime titles, in both hockey and baseball, and was, quite frankly, one in a million. Singled out by the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, Lou was brought up through their farm system for a couple of years, excelling at every single level. But then, home called, and he answered immediately. With the love and support of his family, he continued to hone his already-exquisite hockey skills, but this time to the benefit of his hometown fans. It was to be the start of what is arguably the crowning achievement in his illustrious sports career. He put on a Bathurst Papermakers jersey, led by example for a few years, then scored two game-winning goals in Bathurst's successful run at the 1970-71 Hardy Cup, the trophy emblematic of Intermediate A hockey supremacy in Canada. The National Hockey League's loss was Bathurst's gain, and this city is still thankful to Lou today for that decision.

BHS Hockey Team 1945-46

Category: Team

The Bathurst High School hockey team of 1945-46 was described in one Nova Scotia newspaper of the day as being “not sensational and perhaps not impressive looking.” But it was, and it went on to prove that fact in a substantial manner. After an undefeated season, BHS sailed by its provincial opponents from Dalhousie, then Campbellton, then Edmundston, forcing a provincial showdown against St. Vincent's High School of Saint John. They won the two-game series with convincing victories of 7-2 and 11-3, and immediately began preparing for the sudden-death, Maritime title game against Glace Bay High School. Despite being from a high school which only went up to Grade 11, they took on Glace Bay and their more mature students on Nova Scotia ice, and beat them 7-3. By season's end, the boys had compiled an unblemished record, outscoring their opponents 64-19, and won their school's first Maritime hockey title in 16 years. The boys on that team were welcomed home as heroes, and rightfully so.