By Sheri Monk

On Nov. 28 at the Maple Creek Community Arena, the Cypress Cyclones retired the jersey of a much-missed team member, friend and inspiration to many, Jamie “Zuby” Zubot.
Jamie, a resident of Burstall, died in a car accident near Mendham on Aug. 19, just days before beginning his third season with the team.
The ceremony came at the start of game against the Pilot Butte Storm. Announcer Brad Blythman read a speech to the crowd before Jamie’s mom Corine, Dad Aaron and brother and former Cyclones teammate Eric brought Jamie’s jersey onto the ice.
They were accompanied by two Cyclones players.

“Jesse Unrath, the reason why we picked him, he’s not our number one goalie, but he was best friends with Jamie and had been for his whole life,” explained Cyclones trainer Connie Burton.
Brock Chisholm, also a close friend to Jamie and the team captain, also accompanied the family onto the ice.
Burton says the ceremony was emotional for everyone involved and the response of a rival team has given her a new view on hockey and the league.
“What I loved was, Pilot Butte Storm, who have always been rivals and well, have always been way better than us, and they’ve won the league before. They suggested that they get involved with this ceremony,” Burton said, pausing as she stifled fresh tears. “They gave the family a beautiful bouquet of flowers and they put a part in the speech and they said that when a young man who plays in the league, when his life is ended so soon, it affects the whole league. And that even though other teams are against them that they become friends and that his impact is missed across the league. It was very touching and it really rounded out the whole ceremony.”

Jamie’s jersey is on display in a showcase in the arena lobby and his tragic passing has left a permanent legacy for the Cyclones club.
The company Jamie’s mom works for donated $1,500 in his honour and for a little while, Burton says they struggled to find a perfect way to spend it, which would be fitting of the gregarious youth with a kind smile for everyone.
“They wanted it to go to the team, but they didn’t want it to just go into the general fund so they were thinking of a scholarship or some sort of piece of equipment that could be named after Jamie,” said Burton.
However, she thought a scholarship might pose problems because to continue the legacy every year. $1,500 would have to be found annually.
“So, we were trying to think of something substantial that meant something to Jamie. We were trying to come up with a piece of equipment and it was tough,” Burton explained.
However, in a conversation with Corine, Burton shared a story about Jamie, one his mother hadn’t heard before.
“Jamie used to help me sharpen skates. I taught him how to sharpen skates. He was just that kind of kid. He always noticed that I was running back and forth and sometimes I was just pressed for time. And so I taught a couple of the kids how to sharpen skates. Some of them are just not meticulous enough. But Jamie was and I could leave him with skates and he’d say, ‘Ok, I can take over from here,’ and I would go and tape and massage,” Burton explained. “I could leave him and trust him and know they’d be done right.”
Burton says she’d always thought about one day being able to purchase a portable skate sharpener for the team. Sometimes, she had to sharpen skates using the opposition’s equipment. But for a small club which relies heavily on fundraising, spending $3,000 on a luxury never seemed like a viable option.
“Jamie and I would always joke about and actually we would get really silly and talk about having this portable sharpener on the bus. And he would joke about inventing this shock absorber so that if we hit a bump on the bus, it wouldn’t destroy the blade. We would just be silly. He had a great sense of humour and he liked to try and invent things that were outlandish.”
The portable skate sharpener thus became the perfect tribute to a player who was known not as much for his skills on the ice as his willingness to support his team in any way needed. The only problem was the need to find an additional $1,500.
A couple of weeks later, Corine’s boss in Medicine Hat committed the remainder of the money.

“It’s going to be called the Zuby sharpener and we’re going to put a gold plaque on it with that on it. Then on the case we’re going to paint number 16 in green,” said Burton. “It’s very fitting. It was something that he helped with and something that he joked around about, that it would be great to have.”
The Cyclones were defeated that night on the ice by the Storm by a 4-1 score, a much better showing than the 6-0 shutout against the same team the night before. But it didn’t matter – not to the teammates, the coaches, the fans or the trainers. On Saturday night, it was all about Jamie and those who loved him. And according to Burton, that was just as fitting as the skate sharpener to honour his legacy.