Local firefighter rides blaze of glory into Sask. Hockey Hall of Fame

One of Sask.'s true underdog stories in sports history will be rightfully honoured this summer as they'll be enshrined into the Ted Knight Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame.

The 1995 Team Saskatchewan that claimed the province's only gold medal in men's hockey history at the Canada Winter Games will join a short-list of teams that have been inducted into the Swift Current-based facility.

Mankota's Kent Silbernagel was one of four players with connections to southwestern Saskatchewan that suited up for the winning squad. Since the monumental feat, he's now living in Swift Current and is a firefighter for the Swift Current Fire Department.

"It will be pretty neat seeing your name up in the hall especially when it's here in town, you can go check it out anytime," he said. "To be able to see your name in there forever, it's a very special feeling."

The list of local inductees; Patrick Marleau, Travis Moen, Tim Tisdale, and the Kyle Elks make the July 12 night an event Silbernagel eagerly awaits. He grew up playing minor hockey against Aneroid's Marleau who was a fixture on the 1995 Team Saskatchewan.

"It has that hometown feel," he said. "I have known Patrick for quite a while. It gives it that extra hometown feeling to do it here."

The left-shot forward was one of many players on the 1995 team that was playing in the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League at the time. Teams from Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec had several 16-year-old players suiting up in the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL, meanwhile, Saskatchewan only had a handful playing at that level.

It didn't stop one of the lowest rank teams from going 3-0-1 in round-robin play before knocking off Quebec in the semi-finals and taking down the tournament favourite and host, Alberta, 3-1 in the finals.

"It really was a David and Goliath moment for us," he said. "We knew that going in and we were ready for the challenge, and it was a real fun moment."

Silbernagel went on to spend four seasons in the SJHL, two with the Minot Top Guns, one with Beardy's Rage, and one with the Melville Millionaires. Afterwards, he spent parts of three seasons playing in U Sports for the University of Regina.