After a delay of several weeks due to bureaucratic red tape, six young hockey players from Ukraine have at last received the go-ahead to attend St. Patrick’s High School and play for the Fighting Irish hockey team.

The news brought a huge sigh of relief for everyone involved, including principal Julien Duchamp; Sean Bérubé, the instigator of the project; and of course, the six young players.

“I feel relief today, it’s a great day,” Bérubé said at a press conference outside the school on Sept. 29. “The school and the community are thrilled; the teachers are happy. It will be a special occasion to celebrate diversity in the community within the school,” added Duchamp. “We look forward to integrating them into our day-to-day life at St. Patrick’s High School.”

Yehor Kosenko, Artem Kovalenko, Mykyta Staskevych, Yehor Pyshalko, Maksym Shtepa and goaltender Matvii Kulish will all dress for St. Pat’s Fighting Irish Under 15 (U15) Division 1 team. All six were with the Ukrainian team at the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament in February.

As war raged at home, all six boys and their families wanted a chance for them to go to school and play hockey as well. Bérubé, who helped get the young Ukrainians to Quebec last winter and for the school year, explained the families’ decision to choose St. Pat’s.

“First off, their parents, back in Ukraine, preferred they went to an English school to study, mainly because the teenagers already had some knowledge in the language,” explained Bérubé. “Then [they looked at] where can they play hockey as well, and St. Pat’s checked all the boxes.”

Since the players could not practice with their teammates until a final decision about their eligibility to attend St. Pat’s had been made, Bérubé told reporters that he rented some ice time at the PEPS so the students could practice on their own.

The young Europeans didn’t have very long to wait to play their first games of the season, as they were on the ice for the school’s first two games on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The Fight- ing Irish won both games as they defeated the Filons from the Or et Bois region (Abitibi) 7-6. The score was 6-6 after three periods. A shootout was needed to determine a winner. Gabriel Gagnon scored the lone goal for St. Pat’s and Matvii Kulish blocked all three shots from the Filons for the win. On Oct. 1, eight different players found the back of the net as the Fighting Irish easily defeated the Vikings from l’École Secondaire du Mont Sainte-Anne, 8-1.

Meeting President Zelensky

On Sept 22, two of the six students had the privilege of meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa.

In a meeting organized by lo- cal MP Gérard Deltell, Maksym Shtepa and Matvii Kulish, along with Bérubé, met the two leaders. Shtepa gave Zelensky a Quebec International Pee- Wee Tournament Team Ukraine jersey. Trudeau presented the boys with Hockey Canada jerseys.

“For me, it was a dream to meet President Zelensky,” said Shtepa. “It was really cool and I cherish the picture with Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trudeau. It is now in my classroom.”