A couple of former Fort Saskatchewan hockey players have been recognized by the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) for their outstanding community service.
Jayden Joly of the Blackfalds Bulldogs and Jaron Desnoyers of the Fort McMurray Oil Barons have both been named RBC community ambassadors.
Joly, who is from Fort Saskatchewan and played four seasons with the Rangers, keeps busy in Blackfalds by volunteering with animals.
"I do a lot of work at the humane society," said Joly. "I help out the stray animals and take care of them."
"I also work at the food bank sometimes."
Desnoyers, who played one season with Rangers and another with the Sherwood Park Crusaders, has done a bit of everything around Fort McMurray.
"As a team, we participate in a program called 'snow angels' and we go around shoveling some seniors' homes in the community," said Desnoyers. "We go out to the schools and read books or participate in gym class sometimes."
"I find that it's really rewarding to give back to the community."
That drive to help those who support their respective teams was something that they both picked up during their time in Fort Saskatchewan.
Desnoyers only played four games with the U18AAA Rangers, but he said that was all he needed.
"I played [for the Rangers] in the shortened COVID season so I wasn't there for the entire hockey season," said Desnoyers. "I was definitely there for a long time to pick up values and stuff."
Joly, who had a much longer career with the Rangers, says those values are deeply entrenched and helped him continue to give back after he left.
"Fort Saskatchewan has always had a great organization and great community involvement," said Joly. "I think that translated over to [Blackfalds] and it definitely helped me out."
In total, 16 players from across the AJHL were named ambassadors.