Former Rampage player Josh Cook brings love of hockey (and an impressive amount of hockey gear for local youth) to RCMP posting to Nunavut

Former Rampager player
Josh Cook has provided a 
strong helping hand for local
hockey in Nunavut
(Photo from RCMP)

Former Prince Rupert Rampage player Josh Cook is playing for a new team now, posted to an RCMP detachment in Nunavut and with his time in Canada's far north he's brining his love of hockey to youngsters across the region.

Cook was a member of the Rampage for a number of years up until 2020 and also played with the VIU Mariners in Canadian College Hockey.

The former Rupertite is profiled in an information piece from the Nanaimo RCMP, which notes how Constable Cook has made use of his network of team mates with the Vancouver  Island University Mariner's hockey program to deliver 200 pounds of hockey equipment for the youth of Kinngait on the southern tip of Baffin Island.

As he developed his plan last year, he noted the state of the local program and the gear on hand and how an  upgrade would be welcomed by the mostly Indigenous youth of the community.

"Most of the hockey equipment in the community is showing its age and sadly, there just isn’t enough to safely outfit the youth who simply love this great game" -- RCMP constable and former Prince Rupert Rampage Josh Cook

Putting out the call for some 'gently used' hockey gear', Nanaimo's residents responded in full with a flood of donations coming in within days, Cook then put some team building skills to work long distance to develop a network of helpers to get the gear from Nanaimo to Baffin Island, a pretty remarkable journey that overcame more than a few obstacles.

The process took  up a good portion of 2021 and didn't make it to the finish line until March 10th with the Constable and his fiancé Katie Isherwood travelled to Kinngait to deliver the hockey gear which was eagerly taken in by the youth of the community.

The full profile of the Constable and his work to pull the hockey gear collection together can be reviewed here.

The Prince Rupert RCMP Facebook page was the first to share word of the project, which you can explore here.

More notes on Emergency Responders of the Northwest (and some beyond) can be explored from our archive page.