TRURO — Zach Evans-Renaud has spent the last two years trying to make up for one night that forever changed two lives.
The St. Peter’s Bay native recently took a major step in getting back on the right track.
Evans-Renaud, a former member of the Truro Bearcats junior A hockey team, was in the Nova Scotia town working to get back into game shape after a six-month layoff, as he prepares for his first professional camp with the Bakersfield Condors of the East Coast Hockey League.
“It feels awesome,” Renaud, 22, said after getting off the ice with his old club. “I definitely had a rough patch, but knowing that I’m back on the right path, and heading in the right direction is a huge weight off my shoulders. It’s a huge relief.”
It wasn’t long ago things didn’t look so promising for the former first overall draft pick of the Maritime Junior Hockey League.
Evans-Renaud came to the Bearcats in the midst of legal proceedings following a hit-and-run in March 2011. Renaud pleaded guilty after leaving the scene of an accident in which he struck a pedestrian outside a campus bar at UPEI.
Related: Evans-Renaud's appeal denied
Facing a jail sentence and harsh judgments by much of the public, Evans-Renaud found comfort in knowing his team, and especially head coach Shawn Evans, would be there for him no matter what.
“From the very start, I was honest with (Evans) about what was going on. I kept him informed whenever I had to leave the team. He said straight up, ‘We’ll be here when you get back.’”
After being released from the provincial correctional centre in Charlottetown on Christmas Eve 2012, Evans-Renaud returned to the Bearcats in the New Year. While still battling to put his past mistakes behind him, the Bearcats welcomed him with open arms.
“It was like I’d never left.”
After leading the team to a Fred Page Cup and a berth in the RBC Cup in 2013, Evans-Renaud finished his junior career and played one year of university hockey at Mount Royal. His goal, however, remained to turn pro.
Renaud got the chance earlier this summer when he signed with the Fayetteville Fireantz of the Southern Professional Hockey League, but held out for a shot at the Coast. After Evans put him in contact with an agent, things came together in Bakersfield.
“Fayetteville is definitely not a bad place to go but (Bakersfield) is more of what I wanted as far as professional teams go,” he said. “The East Coast is a high quality league and I’m so glad to have somewhere like that to play.”
Regardless of where his career takes him, Evans-Renaud knows he will always be welcomed in Truro.
“It’s just always a nice spot to come back to. I always know that Shawn will do whatever he can for me, no matter what.”
While Evans-Renaud gives his old coach a lot of credit for his career, Evans doesn’t take anything away from his former player.
“I can’t take any credit away from Zach,” he said.
“He’s a good hockey player and a good kid who had to learn some big lessons early in life. He worked through all that and I’m really proud of him.”
Still, Evans-Renaud remains thankful for everything coach has done for him.
“Coming to Truro was the greatest career move I ever made, if just for meeting Shawn.”
(Truro Daily News)
TRURO — Zach Evans-Renaud has spent the last two years trying to make up for one night that forever changed two lives.
The St. Peter’s Bay native recently took a major step in getting back on the right track.
Evans-Renaud, a former member of the Truro Bearcats junior A hockey team, was in the Nova Scotia town working to get back into game shape after a six-month layoff, as he prepares for his first professional camp with the Bakersfield Condors of the East Coast Hockey League.
“It feels awesome,” Renaud, 22, said after getting off the ice with his old club. “I definitely had a rough patch, but knowing that I’m back on the right path, and heading in the right direction is a huge weight off my shoulders. It’s a huge relief.”
It wasn’t long ago things didn’t look so promising for the former first overall draft pick of the Maritime Junior Hockey League.
Evans-Renaud came to the Bearcats in the midst of legal proceedings following a hit-and-run in March 2011. Renaud pleaded guilty after leaving the scene of an accident in which he struck a pedestrian outside a campus bar at UPEI.
Related: Evans-Renaud's appeal denied
Facing a jail sentence and harsh judgments by much of the public, Evans-Renaud found comfort in knowing his team, and especially head coach Shawn Evans, would be there for him no matter what.
“From the very start, I was honest with (Evans) about what was going on. I kept him informed whenever I had to leave the team. He said straight up, ‘We’ll be here when you get back.’”
After being released from the provincial correctional centre in Charlottetown on Christmas Eve 2012, Evans-Renaud returned to the Bearcats in the New Year. While still battling to put his past mistakes behind him, the Bearcats welcomed him with open arms.
“It was like I’d never left.”
After leading the team to a Fred Page Cup and a berth in the RBC Cup in 2013, Evans-Renaud finished his junior career and played one year of university hockey at Mount Royal. His goal, however, remained to turn pro.
Renaud got the chance earlier this summer when he signed with the Fayetteville Fireantz of the Southern Professional Hockey League, but held out for a shot at the Coast. After Evans put him in contact with an agent, things came together in Bakersfield.
“Fayetteville is definitely not a bad place to go but (Bakersfield) is more of what I wanted as far as professional teams go,” he said. “The East Coast is a high quality league and I’m so glad to have somewhere like that to play.”
Regardless of where his career takes him, Evans-Renaud knows he will always be welcomed in Truro.
“It’s just always a nice spot to come back to. I always know that Shawn will do whatever he can for me, no matter what.”
While Evans-Renaud gives his old coach a lot of credit for his career, Evans doesn’t take anything away from his former player.
“I can’t take any credit away from Zach,” he said.
“He’s a good hockey player and a good kid who had to learn some big lessons early in life. He worked through all that and I’m really proud of him.”
Still, Evans-Renaud remains thankful for everything coach has done for him.
“Coming to Truro was the greatest career move I ever made, if just for meeting Shawn.”
(Truro Daily News)
