Feature: A Worthwhile Challenge

Note: Joe Juneau is a Rensselaer alum who enjoyed a tremendous career with the Engineers from 1987-91.

BY BILL CURRY
Toronto Globe and Mail

KUUJJUAQ, QUE. - This Arctic community near the northern tip of Quebec is not where you might expect to find a recently retired NHL star moving into the neighbourhood.

But three years after retiring from the Montreal Canadiens, Joé Juneau is relocating his young family to this tiny Inuit village in time for the start of the school year.

A fan of flying, Juneau said he flew his de Havilland Beaver to the region in the summer of 2004 for a hunting trip and fell in love with the beauty of the region.

Not far out of town, big, woolly musk oxen hang out on rocky cliffs and herds of caribou with sprawling antlers poke around on the tundra.

Retired NHL player Joé Juneau wanted to do more with his life, so he headed to Northern Quebec to set up a hockey school and help local children.

While hunting caribou and fishing for Arctic char is certainly a draw, Juneau says he is moving North out of a long-standing desire to do more with his life.

He will be running a hockey program in Kuujjuaq for about 200 local kids, who will have two practices and two games a week. The ice time and the new equipment are free. The only catch is that the kids have to go to school and try their best.

"I had the [desire] to do so much more than I was doing as an NHL player," Juneau said this week. "This is important. It is obviously also fun. I get a lot from being on the ice with those kids and giving them the chance to play and learn things. You can't find anything else really as a job that has better results than the smile on the kids' faces."

There are 14 Inuit communities in Northern Quebec, making up a region called Nunavik that covers the northern third of the province. The government agencies serving the region hired Juneau last year to run the new program.

Combined, the 14 remote villages are home to 10,000 people. At 2,000, Kuujjuaq has the largest population.

Many of the children lacing up their skates with the former NHL player are carrying heavy baggage of a different kind.

Child abuse, substance abuse and extreme violence are common in Quebec's Inuit communities, as outlined in a recent government report outlining major problems.

Overcrowding in homes often means that families who have avoided these problems still suffer because they share living space with other families or individuals battling their own demons.

A shortage of mental health services means many kids are left on their own to deal with suicidal thoughts or the suicides of their classmates.

Juneau said he is ready to help when the shy Inuit boys and girls under his care are looking for someone to listen to them.

"I know that there's some bad stuff," he said. "I know the situation isn't the best. All I want to do is say, 'Come here, and once you're here, you're going to have fun and learn things.'

"If there's a case where a kid comes to me and needs help with something, of course. I'm here to help. This program is not a hockey school. This program is a social program. We're using hockey as a tool."

Charlie Arngak, 53, of Kangirsujuaq, Que., knows first-hand that such a program can really help. He's been running one for kids in his town for years as a volunteer.

"I always tell them, if you don't show up at school that morning, don't expect to show up [at the rink]," he said. "I talk with them about the problems of alcohol abuse and drug abuse. I always tell them if you want to be a good player, you shouldn't take those drugs and alcohol. Some of them listen. But with the situation today, it's very hard.

"Joé Juneau is a former National Hockey League player. We watched him play and the kids watched him, too. He's a very good idol. What he's done for this program is very good for the kids."

Last year, Juneau tried to launch the program in all 14 communities while still living with his family just west of Quebec City. He would fly into a different community each week, but found it frustrating to organize the sessions.

He decided living in the North year-round is the only way to make the program work. He will stay in Kuujjuaq and then focus on expanding the program to the other communities later.

For his girlfriend, Elsa - and particularly his daughters, Ophélie, 7, and Héloïse, 6 - the move is sure to be a culture shock.

Nightfall seems to have little impact on children in Kuujjuaq, who are accustomed to days when the sun only shines for six hours. Very young kids wander in groups around town. Older kids zip around on four-wheelers throughout the night.

Juneau said his kids are ready.

"It's a big challenge for us as a family," he said. "They know what they're in for. They're anxious to be part of it. It's going to be a great experience. To have the chance to give that to your daughters, to let them see that there's something else in life."

Originally from Pont Rouge, Que., Juneau was drafted 81st overall in 1988 by the Boston Bruins. He had success in the early 1990s playing on Canada's national team and won a silver medal in the Olympics in 1992. He set two Bruins rookie records the next year with 70 assists and 102 points. His 14-year NHL career included stops in Washington, Buffalo, Ottawa and Phoenix before wrapping up with three years in a Montreal Canadiens uniform.

Though he lived the childhood dream of many Canadian children, Juneau seems genuinely glad that it's over.

"I love it," he said of his life away from the year-round training and constant media attention. "I want to be somewhere with no stress. I was never a big press guy. After games, I never found it easy to talk about the game, to talk about performances and stuff like that. In my book, if you want to talk about the game on the news, it's not that important to get comments from the players."

Juneau is using his NHL connections to secure deals that Inuit kids could only dream of. In such isolated communities, importing anything from the south costs a fortune. A jug of orange juice costs $9. A postgame bottle of lemonade will set you back at least $4.

So when it comes to hockey equipment, which is already too expensive for many families in the south, Juneau picked up the telephone. He called the Canadiens' foundation to tell them about his program. They offered $20,000 and then CCM Reebok offered to sell equipment at cost.

"That $20,000 gave us the opportunity to buy 80 sets of equipment," Juneau said. Down the line, he hopes to use his connections to get some current and former NHL players to visit the kids.

"After the playoffs, it might be fun for them to come up here and maybe do a little fishing at the same time."