Many television sets in Yellow Grass and area were tuned to CBC's Hockey Night in Canada broadcast on Saturday night, and saw the NHL debut of their native son, Peter Schaefer, with the Vancouver Canucks.
Schaefer was flown in the from east, where he has been playing with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch in his second season there, and stepped on the ice with none other than hockey legend Mark Messier and Alexander Mogilny.
Asked if playing with a Stanley Cup winner and team leader like Messier was a big experience for Peter Jr., his father said, "He's been with him in training camp a couple of times, so the overwhelmingness wasn't so much a problem. But all of a sudden to be playing on the same line was pretty exciting. He came out flying, hitting everything in sight. He played with a lot of emotion."
Peter Sr. said his son didn't get any points in his first appearance for the Canucks, but he just wants to play as well as he can while he's up in the big leagues, because he doesn't really know how long he will be there.
He's happy to be making his NHL debut, said Peter Sr., "but it's more of a cautious enthusiasm, because he realizes it's a business. It always is (a temporary call-up) when you're that age. It doesn't mean it couldn't turn into a permanent situation It's day to day. They never really say very much; if they decide to keep him they'll tell him to get a place to stay instead of a hotel."
The Canucks won the game, versus the Nashville Predators, by a 5-3 score, with one goal scored by line-mate Messier, assisted by Mogilny.
The Canucks drafted him 66th overall in 1995 in the third round, and was their first 18-year-old pick of that draft, while he was a member of the Brandon Wheat Kings. Schaefer played for the Wheat Kings in the WHL for three years. Once he was drafted, the Canucks sent him to Syracuse.
Schaefer Sr. admitted there was some surprise to his son being called up, as he hadn't been doing much with Syracuse so far this season.
"He's been off to a slow start. Usually when you're called up it's because you're doing something quite good in the minors," he said, noting Peter Jr. has one goal and two assists so far this season.
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