Autographed hockey stick that washed ashore belonged to Olympic gold medalist

It failed to take long for someone to determine which Olympic gold medal hockey player had signed a damaged hockey stick Monica McIntyre determined washed up on a beach in Escuminac, a community in northeastern New Brunswick.

The mystery is to find out who owns it and how it ended up in Miramichi Bay. Upon reading the story, CBC Nova Scotia replica editor and sports buff Monty Mosher speedy deduced that the signature belonged to Vicky Sunohara. She wore No—sixty-one for the Canadian girls’ team, who received gold through the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics. Sunohara changed into one of the team’s captains and a left-hand shot, which matched the stick’s left curve. When CBC News advised McIntyre the mystery has been solved, she, without delay, determined touch facts for Sunohara and sent her an email at the side of snapshots of the stick.

Sunohara spoke back. Returning stick to its rightful proprietor.

“That is funny and first-rate that my stick washed up at the shore like that,” wrote Sunohara. “I think if it changed into from a chum of mine who lives in Escuminac!” suspects it might be but plans to keep onto the stick till she reveals out for sure. “If it’s far who I trust it’s miles, yeah, I’m satisfied.” Knowing that character is an avid collector of sports activities memorabilia, McIntyre says she’ll go back the stick if he needs it. “But I nevertheless need to know the tale of ways it ended up in the water.” McIntyre discovered the stick about three years ago after the waves from a storm washed it up at the beach. The avid beachcomber has determined many treasures washed up on shore, together with the skeleton of a beluga whale, but the autographed hockey stick is a first.

‘I heart New Brunswick’

“It says, ‘I coronary heart New Brunswick’ and then it has the signature, No. Sixty-one, after which it says either 2002 or 2012 Olympic gold.” Not an avid hockey fan, she had no concept to authenticate the autograph after an internet seeks led her from one website to any other. After going public to discover who had signed it, McIntyre said she received many emails and Facebook messages telling her it became Sunohara’s signature. “It becomes awesome hearing from each person with that data.” For now, the hockey stick will live in her workplace at the circle of relatives’ campground while she waits for confirmation of the owner’s identity.