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With The Coach: Team gives coach strength
John Meagher
The Gazette
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Hannough chats with members of his peewee AA hockey team. PIERRE OBENDRAUF, The Gazette
Three weeks after a fire destroyed their home in Hudson, the Hannough family is still picking up the pieces.
Their sprawling hillside home on Main Rd. burned to the ground on March 7 while they were vacationing in Mexico.
“There is nothing left but a pile of ashes over a concrete foundation,” said Bruce Hannough, who operated a manufacturing agency from the comfort of home, affording him enough leisure time to coach his daughter’s peewee hockey team, the regional-champion Lac St. Louis Elites.
No one was inside the home at the time, but all four family pets perished in the blaze.
The vacationing Hannoughs received the horrible news in the form of an urgent text message.
Hannough, his wife Dawn Henson, their two children – daughter Sierra, 12, and son Connor, 14 – have temporarily relocated to a townhouse in Pointe Claire.
Hannough will tell you that a residential fire destroys more than just the walls of a home, it scorches a lifetime of memories and leaves residents feeling vulnerable and shaken.
“I used to think I was invincible, that I could overcome anything, that I could prevail,” Hannough said.
“Well, I realize now that life is so tenuous, so fragile. You’re here, but you could be gone in a brief instant. Accidents happen.
“I’m gonna miss things that can’t be bought, like my kids soccer cleats, their baby shoes, a Father’s Day gift my kids made with favours like ‘Good for One Lawn Mowing’ or a ‘Free Car Wash’ – stuff you’ll never replace.”
The fire, though has brought his family, and his peewee hockey team, much closer together.
Last week, the Elites swept the regional finals 2-0 and are now preparing for the Dodge Cup provincial championships next month in Baie St. Paul.
In Hannough’s darkest hours following the fire, he found a measure of comfort simply by being around the rink.
“Just walking into the arena, hearing the sounds of pucks hitting the boards, of welcome chatter in the dressing room. It makes me smile. It makes me happy.”
“My first meeting with my players became emotional for all of us,” he said. “There were some tears, mine as well.
“I took my vacation at a critical juncture in the season and the team faltered while I was away, but now we’re back together and all feels right again.”
Sierra’s teammates were also there to console her. They painted her sweater number, 13, on their faces, and gave her clothes and makeup.
Hockey parents came forth with gift certificates for food and clothing for the Hannoughs.
“The support was overwhelming,” Hannough said.
“Both my kids go to high-school at Kuper Academy in Kirkland, and the staff has been fantastic there as well, helping us out with books and school uniforms. You name it.”
The Hannough home will eventually be rebuilt on the same two-acre spread.
“Now there is a chance to put new roots down over the old ones. Learn from mistakes and do things differently.”
Till then, there is a group of peewee hockey players who will look to their coach for inspiration, and he to them, next month at provincials.
“They’re a great group of girls who don’t know how good they are yet, and I’m so lucky to have them now,” Hannough said.
“They have been like a safe port in rough seas for me.”
“My family? We’re coping as best we can, putting one foot and one skate in front of the other.
“And we’ll soldier on.”
jmeagher@
thegazette.canwest.com