Munroe, Roest earn Hall recognition
The Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame is preparing to host its 32nd Banquet and Induction Ceremony Saturday at the Canadian Western Bank Lounge at Enmax Centre.
This year’s theme is “Celebrating 60 Years of Athletics at Lethbridge College” and will feature guest speaker Todd Caughlin (Lethbridge College athletics manager) and master of ceremonies Paul Kingsmith.
This year’s inductees are the 1985 Lethbridge Senior Little League Baseball Team (team), Mike Mezei, golf and Stacy Roest, hockey (athletes), Morgan Munroe, multi-sport (builder), and Knud Petersen, multi-sport (special).
Receiving this year’s Kinsmen Sports Persons of the year are: Ashley Steacy, 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medallist in Rugby Sevens and Zack McAllister, 2016 Rio Paralympic Games Swimmer.
Morgan Munroe (Builder)
Following his own successful career as a junior high, high school and college athlete, Morgan Munroe went on to help provide a fulfilling sports experience for the next generation of athletes as a coach, official and administrator.
Munroe starred in football at Catholic Central High School and played a big part in the high school’s championship teams of 1974 and 1976. He also shone on the basketball court and later played with the Lethbridge College Kodiaks.
After his playing days, he helped coach the CCH football team in winning the 1985 provincial championship and later assumed head coaching duties from 1987 to 2002 and becoming the longest-serving football head coach at CCH.
Munroe began officiating basketball in 1989 and quickly developed into a respected referee not just locally, but provincially and nationally.
He went on to officiate more than 2,000 games in Alberta, among them numerous provincial championships at all levels. He also officiated basketball at CCAA for 21 seasons and CIS for 20 seasons. During that time, he refereed eight CWUAA championship games, six national championships and two gold-medal games.
Munroe’s contributions extend beyond on-court officiating. He served 13 years as an executive with Southern Alberta Basketball Association, six years as president and continues to provide mentorship and evaluations at all levels of basketball including high school, CCAA and CIS.
Munroe has also served as ABOA rules interpreter for 13 years, and has worked at the national level as a member of CABO for 13 years, being elected president in 2016.
He was inducted into the Alberta Schools Athletic Association Hall of Fame in May 2015.
Stacy Roest (Athlete)
Most minor hockey players probably dream of one day playing in the National Hockey League. Stacy Roest was one who achieved that dream.
Roest was a product of Coaldale Minor Hockey and went on to play for Lethbridge’s Val Matteotti Golden Hawks of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League, helping the Golden Hawks win the 1989 Purolator Cup as Bantam AAA champs of Western Canada.
In the 1990-91 season, Roest starred with the Lethbridge Y’s Men of the Alberta Midget Hockey League, scoring 72 points in 34 games earning him a spot on Medicine Hat Tigers team late in the season where he scored 10 points in 12 games during the Tigers’ playoff run.
He spent the next four years with the Western Hockey League Tigers, which included three 100-plus point seasons and was a WHL East First Team All-Star in 1994 and Second Team All-Star in 1995.
Roest went on to play three full seasons with the Adirondack Red Wings of the American Hockey League, leading the team in scoring in 1997-98.
He made his NHL debut the next season, playing 59 games with the Detroit Red Wings. It marked the start of a five-year NHL career that included two seasons with the Minnesota Wild before he finished with Detroit in 2002-03.
Roest’s hockey career then took him to Switzerland where he spent nine seasons with the top Swiss league, the National League A, playing for the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers.
In 2012, he captained Team Canada at the Spengler Cup tournament.
Roest is currently Director of Player Development for NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
A table of eight for the Sports Hall of Fame banquet can be purchased at the discounted price of $350 at the Lethbridge Ticket Centre in the Enmax Centre or at the Yates 403-329-7328.