EX-NHLER has a whale of a fish story
Landing giant sturgeon on Fraser River a thrill for former Oilers goaltenders coach
This is one fish story that's not a big lie.
Pete Peeters has the pictures to prove how he and his friends managed to catch a giant sturgeon on the Fraser River between Chilliwack and Hope, B.C. — a fish as heavy and as big as a Zamboni, and one that looked like it had just been through five overtime periods when the fight was over.
“Yeah, 890 pounds and 11 feet, six inches,” said the former Vezina Trophy winner, Peeters, once the runner-up to Wayne Gretzky for the Hart Trophy, also the guy who was guarding the net for Canada at the 1984 Canada Cup, finishing up his hockey days as the Edmonton Oilers' and Anaheim Ducks' goalie coach.
That Peeters, the Philadelphia Flyers' goalie on the Dec. 30, 1981 night Gretzky scored five and hit 50 goals in 39 games, also lives in Sturgeon County. Well, that's one more subplot to this fish story that is both true and extravagant in its tale.
This was the Moby Dick of sturgeons. They say it's the world's biggest ever caught after they reeled it in three weeks ago.
“Sturgeon are protected species, so it's catch-and-release. After we caught him, they handle this fish with care. They bring the fish into three or four feet of water and the thing is totally tired out. They roll the fish onto his back and it goes into a complete state of calmness. It doesn't flail, it just lays there. They do the measurements, take a couple of pictures quickly and get that fish back into deep water,” said Peeters.
“Our guide Kevin Estrada says the sturgeon won't come after a hook for a year after they've been caught. That fish had never been caught before, a virgin fish. They put a chip in the fish and if somebody else catches this fish, there will be a history of it,” said Peeters. “Our guide has been doing this for 20, 25 years and he figures that fish was about 100 years old. Waited 100 years to get caught once, so I'd say the fish did a pretty good job.”
Salmon are running in the Fraser River, too, but they're guppy size next to this sturgeon, whose girth was 55 inches.
“Yeah, I would have to say that fish has swallowed a few things to be that big,” Peeters said with a laugh. “They don't have teeth, they're a sucker, they feed off the bottom.”
Peeters has a hobby farm with his wife Laurie that boasts about 50 cows and 30 alpacas. The couple lovingly work the land here.
“Keeps us out of mischief,” said Peeters, admitting his river experience in B.C. with his mates was a different chore. Maybe not as challenging as seeing Gretzky or Mario Lemieux in his playing days, but a thrill that was both exhausting and exhilarating.
“I asked if there was a fighting chair in the boat but they told me `nah, you just sit on the motor housing.' Like, it's a jet boat with a car engine in it. They
said chairs are for wusses,” said Peeters, who normally fishes for trout in Sturgeon County.
“There's a special knob on the end of these big, big rods you would (use) for a tuna or a blue marlin and you sit on that knob and put your feet up against the back of the boat. You try to keep your arms as straight as you can and when it was my turn, it was more than I could handle. I had to hand it over to a fellow, Jake Driedger, after 10 or 15 minutes I was so tired. He brought the fish home.”
“These fish go aerial, they fly right out of the water — like a pan-fried trout coming out of the water, trying to shake the hook. Only you can imagine how this one looked. So big.”
Who knew after being retired for 30 years, Peeters, 64, would be in the news again, and paired with the guide Estrada, who has a hockey history, too. The 39-yearold former forward was drafted by Carolina in the third round in 2001 after playing Junior A in Chilliwack and played college hockey at Michigan State with Oiler defenceman Duncan Keith.
“Being on the boat for three days, it's like a dressing room. There's kibitzing back and forth. We caught the fish on the last day, what a way to finish. They were telling the guide that I made Gretzky famous, Mario Lemieux famous (first goal), even (fighters) Tie Domi and Archie Henderson who also scored their first NHL goals against me. They said there's no reason why they couldn't make me famous again,” said Peeters.
Peeters' job wasn't to score the big one with a stick back then, either. But he did this time.
This 'n' that: The Oilers won't ■ be heavily represented in the Olympics. Connor Mcdavid, obviously, and Darnell Nurse has a good shot as a left D for Canada. Leon Draisaitl will be the German team captain and Jesse Puljujarvi will play wing for Finland. Former Oilers winger Patrick Russell, now playing in Sweden, should be on the Denmark team. Maybe Mikko Koskinen as backup to Juuse Saros in the Finnish net ... Colin Chaulk, former assistant coach of Ottawa's Belleville AHL club, is replacing J.F. Houle on Jay Woodcroft's staff in Bakersfield. Houle is now head coach of the Habs' AHL farm team in Laval.