“He came to us and it was like he was a guru. He was so far ahead of anything I’ve ever seen,” said Matthew Kolle, General Manager of the Kamloops Storm about Peter Friedel, their trainer who passed away in June.
The Storm will recognize Friedel, a valuable member of the organization for six years, during a ceremony ahead of their home-opener against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats on Saturday at 7 p.m.
“Peter was the consummate professional. What I learned from my time with Peter is that he was a man of many talents,” said Kolle. “His level of dedication is unmatched. When I look at what Peter did on a daily basis for our team, he was here anywhere from six to 10 hours a day. He can do anything – sew jerseys, fix skates, muscle manipulation on players. There wasn’t anything that Peter couldn’t do. He was unbelievable.”
The Storm will recognize Friedel with his wife and son attending and invited to take part in the ceremony. Among the plans is hanging a banner from the concourse rafter for fans to see when they enter McArthur Park Arena.
The players recognized their trainer by wrapping up training camp playing the Blue-Red Game for the annual Peter Friedel Cup. Kolle said naming the Cup after Friedel was the players’ idea.
Friedel was also an assistant trainer for the Kamloops Blazers for over three decades beginning in the 1988-89 season. He was part of all three Memorial Cup winning teams in 1992, 1994, and 1995.
