It’s a long way from where the Letendre brothers started to the roster of the Burns Lake Timbermen, and not just geographically.
The 17-year-old twins Collin and Colton are from the Loon River Cree First Nation at Red Earth, Alberta. That’s halfway between Fort McMurray and Peace River in northern Alberta – about 10 hours’ drive from Burns Lake.
That’s not the only gap they’re facing. Collin is listed at 5-foot-6 and 107 pounds, Colton at 5-foot-7 120 pounds. By contrast, one of their teammates, Jonas Smith, is 6-foot-6, 230 pounds, and four years older. The Letendre boys took part in a Greater Metro Junior-A Hockey League (GMHL) identification camp in Edmonton prior to the season and got spotted by Timbermen administration. The offer to play was exciting, they said, but came with some trepidation.
“It’s kind of a big experience playing against guys five years older than me. I didn’t know if I could handle it, since I’m so small. It was a big deal for me,” said Collin who wears No. 12.
“At first I was scared, playing against guys twice my size, twice my body weight,” agreed Colton, who wears No. 13. “It was tough for me and my brother, but every day things got better and better. It’s still tough out there for guys like us but it’s fun over here. It really is.”
Five games and plenty of practices later, the Letendre twins are feeling more comfortable on the ice, but that was only half the transition. They also left a family, community and province behind.
Oh, I was scared at first, thought I wasn’t going to like it out here, but this community is nice. Nice people,” said Collin. “I get a lot of help at school. Our billets, Wanda and Gary, they are really good people, taking care of me and my brother.”
Colton agreed that initial concerns have been wiped away and gone in reverse.
“It was tough not knowing people on my team except my brother. I was shy at first. But we kept practicing and got to know each other, and it’s great. The people are really nice here, the schooling is different, the people are different from there to here, lovely people here. I’m missing my family every day. It’s a far travel for them to come watch us play. Wanda and Gary took us into their home and made us like family, looking after us.”
The Letendre family has made the long trip to see the boys play, so they, too, have a sense of the community.
Now the twins can focus on school and hockey, learning both without the added pressure of fear of the unknown. They may not be the tallest trees in the forest, but they are Timbermen.
