Barrie Sports Hall of Fame has added three new inductees and honoured several others for their contributions to the sports world.
The ceremony at the Royal Canadian Legion on St. Vincent Street Wednesday night saw Megan Lukan, Stephanie Sherlock and Bruce Gardiner receive their plaque and take their place among the city’s most decorated sports stars.
One rule for the BSHOF is any athlete who wins a medal in the Olympics or World event gets inducted. Lukan was an automatic induction as she qualified the second she won bronze at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Summer Olympics. While the name Lukan is synonymous with basketball in Barrie, it was for her top-quality rugby skills that the 25 year old was honoured last night.
“This whole thing is pretty nerve-wracking but special at the same time,” said Lukan before her induction. “I am so very happy to be recognized in my hometown and to be able to share this with my family especially. I think its and awesome thing that we have a hall of fame here in town and that there is a great group who honour what athletes do. I never thought of this when I was growing up playing sports and to be inducted with Stephanie and Bruce is so amazing.”
Being put into a hall of fame doesn’t mean that her career is over; far from it. Lukan is living in Victoria, BC right now, still playing rugby and hoping to be ready for the next Olympics in 2020.
On a night when the National Hockey League began its 2017/2018 season, former professional player Bruce Gardiner was inducted for his contributions to the game. Gardiner played 312 NHL games after being drafted in the 1991 Entry Draft by the St Louis Blues and getting his first shot at the big league in 1996 as a member of the Ottawa Senators. Gardiner went on to play for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils finishing his NHL career with 34 goals, 54 assists for 88 points. The 45 year old has the distinction of scoring the first goal in Blue Jackets history but knows that heading to the BSHOF is an honour he can enjoy forever and is glad to be a part of it.
“It’s a nice honour and a bit of a feather in my cap I guess,” said Gardiner. “To be in here with so many great people from the community who were big names as I was growing up is special. A lot of effort goes into something like this and the people who put this together are doing a wonderful thing not just for us athletes, but for the whole city. They’re giving the people of Barrie a place to enjoy the history of local sports personalities in a town that is very sports-oriented; just an amazing effort on their part.”
Sherlock was inducted for her many contributions to the game of golf on the LPGA but also what she does now as a teacher for those locally looking to excel in a game she did for so long.
Also honoured were Donald Bowen (John Crawley Local Lifetime Achievement Award), Jacob Graves (Greg Johnston/Shayne Corson Trophy for Athlete of the Year), Don “Doc” Buchanan (Jean McCann Unsung Hero Award), The 1986 Barrie Bell Canada Juvenile AAA All Ontario Baseball Champions (Recognized as the Honoured Team).
The Barrie Royals basketball program was also recognized with Certificates of Accomplishment for their recent victories at different levels as the organization’s Under 14 Major Bantam Boys, Under Major Midget Boys 16 and Under Juvenile Boys 17 squads all won Ontario Basketball Association Gold this past year.
Master of Ceremonies Jamie Hall also pointed out the record season by the 2017 IBL Champion Barrie Baycats.
