Yarmouth defenceman at home on and off the ice
Long before he became a go-to defenceman with the Yarmouth Mariners, Kaleb Boudreau appreciated the popularity of his hometown junior A hockey team.
“I grew up watching them,” says Boudreau of the Mariners. “After our minor hockey games in the afternoon, we’d come to almost every game. My dad had season tickets through his work. It’s been awesome.”
As a boy, his favourite Mariners included defencemen Andrew Walker and Josh Desmond. Boudreau sported team clothing and sought autographs from the players.
“Yeah, for sure, that was me,” the third-year, 18-year-old Mariner recalls of his childhood days at the rink.
Boudreau was born in 2001, just one year before Yarmouth joined the Maritime Junior Hockey League. Since that 2002-03 season, the Mariners have consistently attracted home crowds that are the envy of most MHL markets.
The Mariners and their opponents can sense the buzz on and off the ice in the southwestern Nova Scotia fishing town.
“I hear that from guys I’ve played with on other teams, that Yarmouth is one of the spots that people like to come and play,” Boudreau says. “It’s just a good atmosphere here.
“I definitely know of Mariners fans that are super fans. They come to every game every year to cheer us on. There’s a bunch of them. All the boys know who they are, and they’re always here supporting us. They wait for us after the games.
They do everything.”
After playing major bantam with the Western Hurricanes and prep school with Newbridge Academy, Boudreau graduated to the Mariners at age 16. Of course, he had to wait his turn before becoming a regular with the junior A team. It can be an agonizing experience sitting in the stands as a healthy scratch, especially for a hometown player in a hockey-crazed market like Yarmouth.
“I think it’s tough for anyone that goes through it,” Boudreau says. “Sometimes your family members (or friends) don’t really understand what goes on at the rink and how that stuff works, so I was just getting questions from everyone. It was definitely tough, but it’s the way of the road. It’s junior hockey. That’s how it works. You’ve just got to keep on pushing through it.”
Boudreau progressed as a sophomore last season as the Mariners went on to win the league championship. He’s now in his element in front of supportive crowds and doesn’t necessarily carry extra pressure as a local boy.
“Once you get on the ice, you don’t really think about that aspect too much,” he says. “The crowd is awesome here. No matter what, they’re cheering you on, so I don’t think it bothers me that much. It’s nice to play in front of all these people in my hometown.
“Most of all my family is here in Yarmouth, so quite a few of them come to the games. A lot of them have season tickets now that wouldn’t have before.”
The Yarmouth-area contingent with this season’s Mariners includes captain Matt Barron, along with rookies Ben Charles and
Ryan Semple. Brendan Sibley, an 18-year-old defenceman, has Clare roots and played minor hockey in Yarmouth before moving to Dartmouth.
Boudreau and Sibley grew up playing minor hockey together and now they’re defence partners and roommates with the Mariners. They’re among four Mariners living at Boudreau’s family home in Melbourne, about a 10-minute drive from the rink. The other two are Daniel Surette of Sackville and Kurtis Lang of Hubbards. Lang’s family billeted Boudreau four seasons ago when he attended Newbridge in the Halifax area.
With four Mariners in the house, the Boudreau residence is a Yarmouth “hockey central” of sorts.
“We have a pretty good setup here,” Boudreau says. “Me and Sibs are in the basement, and then Dan and Kurtis are upstairs. It’s great. It’s fun, for sure.
“Lots of food. Mom is pretty busy during suppertime and all that. She looks after us.”
Boudreau takes care of business on and off the ice. Before the Mariners’ afternoon practices he spends his mornings working for V&R Traps. His boss is a Mariners’ season-ticket holder.
Boudreau has also made net gains as a reliable defenceman. He had 14 points – four goals and 10 assists – in 19 games through to Nov. 13.
Coach-GM Laurie Barron has watched the six-foot-three, 165pound Boudreau evolve during his three seasons with the Mariners.
“Kaleb played as a 16-year-old, got his foot in the door and didn’t have a huge role,” Barron says. “Then last year, he got a chance to get a little more experience, a little more playing time, and now this year, he’s one of the go-to guys.”
Boudreau was a 12th-round draft pick of the Victoriaville
Tigres in the 2017 QMJHL draft. He attended two training camps with the Tigres, but left within the requisite limit each time to maintain his NCAA eligibility. He’s no longer Victoriaville property, but his hockey ambitions are now more focused on major junior than college.
“This year, over the summer, I kind of changed paths on what I wanted to do,” he says. “I realized, ‘Oh, the Q is something I want to do now, rather than NCAA.’ Now, I’m open to any (QMJHL) teams. Next summer, I could hopefully get into a camp and have a crack at a roster.”