Members of the Women’s Junior A Hockey League paid tribute last night to J.D Trainor, a 16-year-old Paradise player who passed away last week.

The U18 AAA Eastern Ice Breakers and Team Butler gathered at centre ice before last night’s game at the Mary Brown’s Centre to show their support for the young player who died of brain cancer last week.

Players also wore pink laces and stick tape to show their support in the fight against cancer.

Icebreakers goaltender Katie Winsor, calls Trainor her best friend. She says hockey was his passion.

“I never knew a kid who worked any harder than he did” says Winsor, “he would strive every day to play hockey, and he just loved it. So he had a huge impact on the hockey community, and it show with all the support that he’s had through all the teams. It means a lot.”

Winsor says Trainor always had her back, and she felt his presence with her in the net during last night’s game.

“Through every shot that I saved, I was talking to him, and he helped me get through it. I was just talking to him after every rep, and I knew that he was with me. It wasn’t just me in the net tonight, it was the two of us. I had him with me the whole time.”