Mark Letestu joins St. Paul Jr. Canadiens Alumni Foundation Board as ambassador

There are few Junior B teams in Canada that have former NHL players involved with their organization, which makes the recent announcement from the St. Paul Jr. Canadiens Alumni Foundation Board all the more special.

Mark Letestu is now an ambassador for the continually evolving and dedicated Alumni Foundation Board. President Pat Lamoureux along with board member Duane Wolanuk met with Letestu recently to pick his brain about the idea.

He agreed, and was impressed with the scholarship opportunities the Alumni Foundation has fostered.  In this role, Letestu adds more provenance and distinction to the Alumni Foundation.

“An ambassador for me was an opportunity just to be a part of things,” Letestu told Lakeland Connect. 

“The passion is the one thing that comes across right away, what they believe that that team means to that community and can further mean. My role in it is to hopefully amplify that signal, whether it’s the reach to people that I know, or just providing opportunities, as I said, that I had for myself.” 

Letestu suited up with the Canadiens in 2002-03 as a 16-year-old and made an instant impact. He was the league’s leading scorer and used his time with St. Paul to sharpen his skills.

This parlayed into advancing to play Junior A with the Bonnyville Pontiacs, collegiate hockey at Western Michigan, quickly promoted to the AHL, before eventually playing 567 NHL games.

He joins Shawn Germain, Rene Desaulniers, Dennis Zukiwsky, and Rob Litwinski, as Alumni Ambassadors.

“They’re ears to the ground, ears to influencers, ears to help us to support programming,” Lamoureux told Lakeland Connect. 

“He and the other ambassadors that we have, they’re people who live in different parts of the world, in different communities, and our ambassadors are very key of driving initiatives quietly. Some of the work that they’re doing, you may not see them, you may not see that work, but eventually it all comes through. It’s to support this great franchise with the 70th year upcoming, and having the pedigree of Mark Letestu on board, it’s just going to help us to continue to strengthen what we’re doing as a whole.” 

Letestu reflects on journey

Hockey has given much to the “Marksman” but he’s worked for everything he’s got.

The biggest thing he remembers getting with the St. Paul Canadiens was opportunity.

“I was an undersized teenager at the time, had just played bantam hockey with the Northeast Panthers and was trying to prepare myself for Junior A hockey. 

“But what stands out for me is how special the year was. I think we only lost three games, lost in the finals, and went to Provincials and represented St. Paul there. Unfortunately, didn’t win. But being at home, playing in front of mom and dad so close to home, it was a lot of fun.” 

Taking home top scorer and Rookie of the Year honours, that preparation obviously showed. By 2005-06, Letestu was AJHL MVP, scoring 105 points to lead the league, and earning his way to Western Michigan. After just one season, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Then, in 2009, he got a call-up to the show.

“It’s something you’ll never forget, and I’m sure most players that get that opportunity, it’s a very clear memory. Of course, I was playing in Winnipeg, for the Wilkes-Berre/Scranton Penguins against the Manitoba Moose. And because it was close to home, my grandparents, my parents, everybody had flown or driven out to watch the game. That’s usually the kiss of death.

“I got called up, had to tell my grandparents, thanks for coming, but I gotta fly to Pittsburgh. Of course, there’s no ill-will on that, but it seems that’s the way it always happens. But I had left the rink to go for pre-game meal. I got the call from Coach Todd Reirden at the time. One of my teammates, Chris Lee, shook my hand to congratulate me, not knowing that I hadn’t had the news yet. He was so apologetic, but I kind of had an idea of why I was going back.

“When somebody tells you that you’re going to live out your dreams, you never forget it. And I’m happy that my parents, my grandparents were there to experience it with me.” 

Alumni Foundation continues to progress

One of the key features that the Alumni Foundation has grown is their scholarship programs for Canadiens’ players and students in the community. With partnerships with the Métis Nation of Alberta, Saik Insurance Services Ltd., MCSNet, Portage College, Associated Engineering, and the Pierre Dechaine Athletics Scholarship, the Alumni Foundation has built attractive opportunities to help young people in St. Paul and the broader community.

“We were quite happy to hear Mark’s response in terms of our scholarship programs, and we clearly shared that with him, that our goal is to continue to build all scholarships and program education, and providing meaningful avenues for these young hockey players that come through our system,” said Lamoureux. 

“We continue to work on it, and we’re about to make a huge announcement. Our scholarship offerings are actually going to increase sizably, and we’ll have an announcement in early September.” 

While looking at alleviating some of the cost burden that minor hockey is for families, Lamoureux said there are also conversations around hockey development partnerships in western Europe.

Being around for four years, they continue to implore alumni players and staff to reach out and become part of their work, as they continue to grow.

“Our goal, from an alumni perspective, is we want to continue to try to be the best Junior B franchise in all of Canada. And we believe that that’s a great thing to do. We believe the community is a great place to do it. We believe the Clancy Richard is a great place to do it in. We’re going to continue to preserve the 70 years of history that we have. And we know we have the support of many locally, and people from afar as well.” 

More information on the Alumni Foundation can be found on their website.