When this 11-year-old goalie had his gear stolen, Newfoundland's hockey community stepped up to help

Just days after a minor hockey player had his goalie gear stolen from a local arena, members of Newfoundland's hockey community came together to make sure he could quickly get back between the posts.

Colby Dove, 11, of Deer Lake has only played hockey for two years with the U-13 Corner Brook Royals — but quickly fell in love with playing goalie, says his mother Patricia Dove.

But when Colby arrived at Hodder Memorial Stadium for a game earlier this month, his goalie gear wasn't in its normal place under the bleachers and was nowhere to be found.

"He calls me and says 'Mom, my gear is not here," Dove told CBC News Wednesday.

"We just went around looking, searching every nook and cranny in every room, in every, you know, locker room. And it was not there."

Dove posted about the incident on Facebook, which quickly made its way into a discussion between the executive of the Corner Brook Royals.

Eager to see him back on the ice, the team quickly jumped on board to help — and challenged the rival Deer Lake Red Wings to help.

With the help of the two teams and an outpouring of community support, Colby got his new goalie gear over the weekend.

"They both went half and paid for his whole goalie outfit," Dove said. "It's been so surreal. So many people reaching out. People I don't know.… This has just been so overwhelming and so much generosity. It's really hard to — I don't even know the word — to take it all in."

Andrew Stagg, part of the Royals executive, said getting Colby's gear to him in time was an island-wide effort.

The gear left Sportscraft Source for Sports in St. John's on Friday and was driven to Grand Falls-Windsor — where the Red Wings were playing that night. It was then brought back to Deer Lake with the team and delivered to Colby the next day.

"When it comes to goalie specifically, the price range for their gear is substantially higher than player gear. So that was a big concern," Stagg said.

"I think that this kind of thing shows, you know, hockey's bigger than just a game. It's a community effort. It's a way of life here."

The Royals also raised additional funds by donating $1 from every ticket sold at last Saturday's playoff game.

Additionally, support from Billy Clarke Goaltending and Pro Line Apparel also meant Colby will receive a custom designed helmet and take part in an upcoming goalie camp.

"There's no words. There's not any words I can tell you to even express our gratitude or how thankful we are for all of this," Dove said.

"It's certainly way more than anyone could ever imagine."

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