[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

My article's up on Eric Roy chasing his NHL dream from the small village of Beauval, Saskatchewan.

Growing up in Beauval, SK - a small community of just under 800 people - the local Charles Gauthier Arena was the social heartbeat of the town. The next nearest arena was well over an hour's drive away, which made hockey games against neighbouring communities a bit of a trek.


Then, in late April of 2011, Beauval's figurative heartbeat stopped.
"Unfortunately, [the arena] burned down. A lot of memories there were burned down with it," said Roy.


But the demise of his home rink didn't pull the plug on his dreams of hopefully one day being drafted to play in the NHL.

The Flames' 2013 fifth-rounder's motivation to play in the NHL has been heavily fueled by the revered status he carries in the tiny village. To be the first person from Beauval to accomplish such a thing would be monumental - not just individually, but communally.


"It'd be really good," Roy explained.


"The kids there in Beauval really look up to me. I'm a huge role model there. To play an NHL game, for them, would be really really exciting. My parents would be really excited for me, especially coming from a small community like that. It's going to be a long road, but I'm going to work hard for it."

http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?...id=DL|CGY|home