‘You just cherish the moment’
Jeremy Bishop captains Canada to ball hockey gold
For Jeremy Bishop, the opportunity to captain Canada to gold was always a childhood dream.
The Corner Brook man, who was born in Grand Falls-Windsor, was recently given that chance. For the first time, he was chosen to captain Team Canada at the 2023 International Street & Ball Hockey Federation (ISBHF) Master’s World Championships in Buffalo, New York.
“It obviously shows that the coaching staff and the management had some faith in me to be a leader,” he told SaltWire. “It was an honour and you take it with great pride to be able to do that.”
Bishop describes himself as a vocal leader, who tries to hold both himself and teammates accountable. He notes the Canadian locker room was full of great leaders already, as many of them were captains and assistants on their own teams.
Bishop has tried to apply what he has learned from the leaders he has encountered in years past with his own personal spin. Ultimately, however, he sums up the captain’s responsibilities as “making sure that everybody’s on their toes and ready to go.”
They were.
During the course of a few days, from Aug. 30 to Sept. 3, his dreams were fulfilled.
The tournament concluded with Team Canada and the hosts Team USA both left standing.
Bishop describes it as a “crazy” environment.
The stands were littered with U.S. jerseys and flags. Outside, with a Buffalo Bills tailgate party underway simultaneously, he says it was “chaos.”
But Team Canada tried to silence the crowd early, scoring a couple quick goals. They held a two-goal lead late into the game, but the United States battled back, scoring two and sending it to overtime. Neither team prevailed, and the game was sent to a shootout, where Canada finally claimed a 4-3 victory.
Bishop says cherished memories were watching the goalie celebrate as he stopped the last shot accepting the trophy as team captain.
He says it is always a little bit extra special playing the United States on these occasions, given the two countries’ hockey rivalry.
“For us to be fortunate enough to score a couple goals in the shootout and win it on their home soil was pretty cool, for sure.”
It’s the second time Bishop earned gold in the masters, previously winning in 2018.
He cherishes both titles but this one holds a bit more meaning.
“If you win a world championship, the feeling of it is hard to come back every day when you play sports, and I’m a little bit older,” explained Bishop, 43. “I don’t really know if I’ll ever get the opportunity to keep going back. So, you just cherish the moment and run with it.”
He does plan to try out for the team again for the next masters in two years, but selection, he says, is no guarantee.
It was also extra special for Bishop to share this victory with four other Newfoundlanders.
Bishop was joined on Team Canada by North Rivers’ Ryan Delaney, Gander’s Mike Dyke, Mount Pearl’s Terry Ryan and Chris Sparkes of St. John’s.
“We’ve been all playing together for quite a while … to still compete at a high level, competing for each other, and especially for your country, and win together, it’s definitely something that will be a good memory for a long time.”
Bishop played on a line with Delaney and Ryan, and they made a productive trio.
Bishop racked up six goals and 12 points, while Ryan tied for the team lead in scoring with 14 points, while Delaney added two goals and six points.
Bishop hopes the youth playing ball hockey on the west coast will be inspired by the example he and his teammates have been able to set.
“I hope it opens up a few avenues for the young kids that are coming up on the west coast to be able to pursue a little bit of a dream in ball hockey,” he stated.
With the World Championships sewn up, Bishop has more competition just around the corner.
On Oct. 6 and 7, he will be heading back to Buffalo to compete in the Chiclets Cup, a new annual event presented by Barstool Sports and the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast.
Last year, Bishop was picked by Paul Bissonnette to play for the Big Deal Selects. The team just came up short, losing in the final.
“We’re gonna go back and see if we can win a championship,” he stated.
After that, he says, it’s back to the ice.