Jeremy Bishop went to Winnipeg in search of his first national ball hockey gold medal.
He has collected nine silver medals in his amateur ball hockey career on the national stage and wondered if he would ever know what it was like to have a gold medal dangling around his neck.
He doesn’t have to wonder any longer.
Bishop, a 37-year-old Grand Falls-Windsor native who lives in Corner Brook, helped Team NL win gold at the 2018 Canadian Masters Ball Hockey Championships with a 2-1 victory over the Alberta Havoc in the gold-medal showdown Saturday afternoon at the MTS IcePlex in Winnipeg.
Bishop, Terry Ryan and Ryan Delaney, key members of the Masters squad, also picked up a silver medal Saturday after the trio suited up for Blackhorse NL in a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Savage in the gold-medal game at the 2018 Canada senior men’s ball hockey tournament held in conjunction with the Masters tournament.
“Oh man, what a feeling,” Bishop said Monday of winning his first gold medal after so many years coming up short. “I got nine silver so that one there is a little special for sure.”
Bishop was a dominant force in the run for gold, winning top scorer of the tournament and getting the nod as top forward with 15 points in five games as the Newfoundlanders racked up five-straight wins to claim the crown.
Bishop scored once and set up the winning goal by Ryan Delaney in the 2-1victory over the Alberta Havoc and he notched a hat trick in his team’s 10-4 semifinal victory over Saskatchewan.
He had eight points in his three round-robin games as goalie Ray Martin recorded three-straight shutouts with the team outscoring the opposition 16-0 to set the stage for the playoff round.
He was happy to be a big contributor to the championship run, but he was quick to credit his teammates and goalie Ray Martin for all the support on the floor and thanked coaches Jay Miller and Ed Bartlett for having confidence in using him as an offensive weapon in the quest for top honours.
“It feels good, but you got to credit the boys for working hard every game,” he said. “I was just fortunate enough to be part of it, and playing a scoring role I guess and getting lots of ice-time so I guess I owe that to the coaches who put me in the situation to get it done and produce. It feels good for sure.”
