Just above the door, right in the middle, there’s a photo with a guy doing the classic power-stop pose, labelled: “Tom Keca, Fort McMurray Oil Barons 1991–1992.” He was 20 then, fulfilling a childhood dream. And now he’s walking through the door — a little thicker and wiser, at 45 — and he isn’t too pleased. A quarter of a century after that picture, Keca is the head coach and general manager of the Junior A team he grew up watching and finally playing for. Last season, his first at the helm, the Oil Barons won just 10 games. But this year something’s changed.
The players break their huddle as he walks in the room. Keca’s team hasn’t lost in the New Year, and just extended its undefeated streak to 18 games by a seven-goal margin. But call-up goalie Chris Curr was forced to make 27 saves and that’s not good enough; not this year. And as the giddy players sit in their wooden cubbies, Keca lets them have it.
“What’s that movie where the guys make you stare at the pen and it erases your memory?” he says.
“Men in Black?” a few offer, confused.
“It’s Men in Black Night,” Keca says. “’Cause I don’t want to watch that shit again.”
The boys in blue are silent now. Curfew is 1:00 a.m., Keca says, and the team needs to hustle to the lobby where dozens of young fans are lined up, waiting to get their autographs. A brief moment of quiet contemplation follows the coach’s departure before the customary celebration resumes. Standing at the end of the dressing room, Ralph hits play on a sound system and Lou Benga’s “Mambo No. 5” fills the room: “One… two… three-four-five….” Toby Shattler, the team comedian affectionately known as “Shittler”, hobbles to the beat despite wearing an air cast to treat a high-ankle sprain, and then grinds up against trainer Pete Spiers, a bleach-blond Guy Fieri–lookalike, as he tries to escape. Nearby, a small conga-line of players forms around the yellow Oil Barons logo painted on the floor. “Everybody in the car, so come on let’s ride.”
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