Darren Langdon
"Hockey people are some of the nicest people in the world"
Darren Langdon is one of just 28 Newfoundlanders to have played in the NHL, and now that his career is over he is still busy on and off the ice helping grow his roots with the local Deer Lake Minor Hockey Association.
Langdon began his professional career with the Dayton Bombers of the ECHL, where he held the record for most penalty minutes in a season. He then played with Binghamton Rangers of the AHL, the farm team for the New York Rangers.
Langdon played in 521 NHL games. His NHL totals were 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points and 1,251 penalties in minutes, with more than half coming in fighting majors. He played for the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes and Vancouver Canucks. Langdon was selected in 1996 and 1997 as winner of the Rangers' Players' Player Award, voted on by his teammates.
Langdon retired from playing in the senior hockey circuit at age 43 after eight seasons to move behind the bench as coach of the Corner Brook Royals. Langdon has also played with the Deer Lake Red Wings of the WCSHL and played one season with the Summerside Western Capitals in the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. He played for and coached Deer Lake during the 2004-05 NHL lockout and helped the club to a Herder Memorial Trophy.
In 2015, Langdon was inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Hockey Hall of Fame.
This former NHL enforcer now shows a completely different side as he coaches the youth of his home town.
Jolene Gillard
“They said to work hard and focus on school because this is your dream so I should do it to the best of my ability”
Deer Lake native Jolena Gillard left all the comforts of home behind her to write the next chapter in her life as a rookie goal scorer with the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers in the Atlantic University Sport varsity women’s hockey league.
Gillard showed why she was the scoring champion in the provincial AAA female midget hockey league one year ago by racking up seven goals and a couple of helpers in exhibition play.
She’s loving the hockey atmosphere and loves how the team has a number of skilled players around her to help put wins on the board. It’s a place she knows will help her develop as a player.
Gillard has never hid her enthusiasm for the game or her desire to be one of the best female players in the country. She has always focused on finding her way to a Team Canada jersey and she’s still determined to make that happen.