Markowski’s ‘rollercoaster’ year ends with Sportsman award

It wasn’t just Ingram that felt that way either. The entire team showed their support to Markowski and had dedicated the championship to him as well.

“The Telus Cup, I was on the ice holding it with pride and the guys are telling me they did it for me—it makes me feel so proud,” said Markowski.

That celebration was the clear high on what Markowski describes as a “rollercoaster ride” of a year.

The low came back on March 5 at the Tisdale Recplex in Tisdale. Mintos had just beaten Tisdale Trojans in double overtime 4-3 to force Game 5—a huge deal since the started that series down 0-2.

Markowski was in the process of packing up some of the Mintos gear with team governor Mike Mazurak and manager Don Fauchoux when the president started to feel funny.

“It was a little chaotic, actually. We were in our storage room and Zenon came in there he said he felt a little dizzy,” said Mazurak. “He tripped a little bit, gained his composure again and then he felt dizzy and fell right back into a chair.

“I could tell by the way he was slurring his words that he was having a stroke. Right away, I called ‘911’ and Donny was there with him.”

Markowski said that day and the following weeks were “scary” and credits the overwhelming support he received for helping him get past that tough situation.

“I know this for sure, what pulled me through was the immense amount of people that were supporting me,” said Markowski. “You don’t know how fortunate you are to have as many friends and well-wishers. My first weeks (after) were very scary, I was very blessed to have so many people drop by.”

Markowski remains the Mintos’ president to this day, a position he’s held since the fall of 2000.

Before his involvement, the Mintos didn’t have any national trophies, but now the team has three Telus Cups—last year’s victory and back-to-back championships in 2006 and 2007. He’s the most proud of the fact that 19 players from Prince Albert were on those teams, including Lance Yaremchuk, Loch Morrison, Braxx George, Ryan Duret, Keegan Kjargaard and the injured Zac Paziuk who won it last year.

“The Mintos are a love that I’ve had for 14 years,” said Markowski. “It’s an organization that’s prided themselves on looking after the boys and looking after the boys’ families and making sure that their stay in Prince Albert was a quality one.”

It’s pretty safe to say that the Mintos love Markowski right back.

“He’s a Minto, through and through,” said Mazurak. “He’s such a huge part piece of this organization off the ice. He lives and breathes Mintos. He does so much, he does all our sponsorship and he gets everything going.

“Without him, we’d probably be going in a different direction.”

Athletes of the year

Brittany Hudak will be named the female athlete of the year, and Brent Ertman will take home the male athlete of the year.

Hudak represented Canada at the Sochi Paralympic Games in stand-ski events, while gymnast Ertman finished in third at nationals.

The guest speaker is former major league pitcher Jack Morris.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea

by Jeff D'Andrea

Markowski’s ‘rollercoaster’ year ends with Sportsman award

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