First responders lit up the ice red and blue as RCMP and firefighters battled it out for bragging rights

Back in 2017, a conversation between a local police officer and a firefighter brought back into action a fun scuffle that got both departments together. Firefighters and police officers work together often as they meet on emergency scenes and provide aid to those in need. It’s a serious line of work for both; no community would be the same without their sacrifice.

But, just as important as working together in serious times, it’s also essential to work together in a fun way, allowing everyone to build a relationship outside of the uniforms and away from an emergency.

Corporal Martin Lajeunness of the Whitecourt RCMP and Chris Green from the Whitecourt Fire Department were the two that chatted in 2017. “We were talking about getting hockey up and running again. They used to do it years ago. We said let’s organize it, so we did,” explained Cpl Lajeunness. The hockey game pits the firefighters against police officers in a good-humoured competition at the Scott Safety Centre.

In 2017, the stands held families and close friends who had come out to cheer for a side. In 2018, they had a few more people come out. “The last one we did (2019), we invited more of the public out to watch. But we didn’t do it like this (points to this year’s poster),” said Cpl Lajeunness. It was also the first time they took in donations for a charity. Eventgoers were encouraged to bring a food bank donation as their entry.

The poster circulated on social media was eye-catching. The hope was to encourage Whitecourt and area residents to come out to watch the game and join in on the fun. Cpl Lajeunness said it was important for residents to see first responders as people outside their job. “The public will see that we are not just guys in uniform. We also get involved and play hockey and do stuff in the community, and the same with the fire guys. They aren’t just the people that show up when your house is on fire or when you’re in a car accident. They also go out and have fun and are people too.”

He added that it helps to build a relationship between them and the public. “Anybody you talk to joined the RCMP because they want to help people, not to punish people. So, if we can help in any way possible, we do, and then when they see us doing stuff like this, they can approach us and say, hey, I saw you playing hockey.”

Cpl Lajeunness said the bragging rights that accompany the game are important. “The police have won the three years of games we’ve played. We have bragging rights.” He said year one and two were tighter games, with the RCMP edging out fire by a closer margin, but that the last game in 2019 was “pretty bad,” he smirked. “They are really looking to beat us this year.” He added that there are eight hockey players at the detachment, but injuries have them down to four. “We’ve got Mayerthorpe members coming. We got them involved in the last couple of years. We have four coming from there to help us out.”

Cpl Lajeunness said the game helps build camaraderie and that everyone looks forward to it. “We see them on scenes and everything, but we don’t really get to see them in a social setting, so this way, we go out and meet up. Then after the game, we always went to the fire department, ate pizza, and visited. It was good.”

This year’s event included the donation collection for the food bank and noise makers for the first 100 kids in attendance. After the game, players joined at center ice for a group picture. “We want other people to come out and see us and try and make it a bigger event for the town,” said Cpl Lajeunness. In the future, he hopes to grow the event by getting more people out to watch and incorporating more charities. 

Saturday’s game was back-and-forth, with the fire department scoring first. The game was tied, or within one goal of a tie, for most of the night until the last five minutes, when the RCMP pulled ahead. The final score from the Scott Safety Centre saw the RCMP officers retain their title with an 8-6 victory over the firefighters. Until next year, folks!