Great-grandsons of Ben Comeault will carry his competitive spirit to the NHL

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This article was published 07/07/2022 (1110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Rene Comeault took to the ice as a hockey player, his mother was always worried. Worried her son would be injured on the ice. When Gisele Comeault’s husband took to the ice, she still worried, but for different reasons.

“She was afraid to go to his games because she was afraid he would hurt somebody,” Rene said.

“That’s was the kind of tensity he had as a player.”

The family of Ben Comeault was universal in saying their father would have been thrilled to see two of his great-grandsons drafted to the NHL. Owen Pickering and Denton Mateychuk aren’t just going to be late-round picks, as the cousins are projected to go in the first round of the draft July 7.

Many family members, including Rene, will be making the trip to Montreal to watch their nephews begin their professional hockey journey.

“He’d be so over-the-moon excited,” Ben’s daughter, Denise Pohl, said.

“I’m so sad he’s not here for this moment in time to see this. He would be just so damned proud.”

Ben Comeault was born on Christmas Eve in 1923, and died in 2017. He served in the military during the Second World War and was a fiercely competitive person who loved hockey. He had five daughters and two sons.

“He was very strict, and he instilled such a good work ethic in all of us,” Pohl said, fondly remembering weekly family trips to go water skiing in St. Malo.

“He worked hard, and he expected that from the rest of us too… He was a strict dad, but a good dad.”

The Carillon covered Ben’s hockey exploits over the years, profiling the defenseman in a 1957 article.

In the 1954/1955 season, Ben played for three teams in three different leagues, battling hard throughout the Eastman region for teams in Dominion City, Letillier, and even Killarney, oftentimes playing six games in a week.

Playing for Killarney as a defenseman in the 50s he averaged a goal a game, despite driving over 350 miles for each game, returning home to Dominion City at four or five in the morning to run the Texaco Bulk Station.

He also spent a few years playing for Hallock, Minnesota in the States Dominion league, receiving all-star honours in the 1947/1948 season.

Ben’s proudest moment on the ice came in 1952, when the Letellier team he was playing on won the Manitoba Senior Championship, moving on to compete in the Allan Cup playdowns. Letellier would eventually lose to eventual champions Fort Frances in a seven-game series.

Rene, who played for the University of Maine in the NCAA, said Ben would often travel to attend his games, but he didn’t get a chance to see his dad suit up in a competitive environment. That didn’t stop him from bringing everything he had to annual Christmas old-timers games.

“(Ben) was well into his age, and hadn’t played for years, but you could just see the competitive spirit in him,” Rene said, remembering his dad on the ice.

“There is no question that when he played… he was an extremely competitive player who performed well.”

That competitive drive extended to playing ball in the summer too. The Comeault family would often gather to play in ball tournaments, and when the ‘Bengees’ (a combination of Ben and Gisele’s first names) took to the field, they often won. That didn’t stop Ben from keeping track of who made mistakes on the field.

“Whenever somebody made an error, do you think he’d forget that?” daughter Carol Gushuliak remembers, laughing.

“Five years down the road he’d say ‘do you remember when you dropped the ball out in left field?’ That was so funny. He’s always really loved sports… we loved sports because of him.”

The Comeault family also boasts strong ball players. Maddox Mateychuk, Denton’s brother, plays baseball for a university in Kentucky.

“(Ben) always would watch the Toronto Blue Jays and all the baseball games, and he’d always say ‘I hope I can stay alive to watch that guy pitch on here,’ and he’d point to the TV,” Gushuliak said.

Ben and Rene were both huge Montreal Canadians fans, meaning the draft taking place in Montreal a perfect fit.

“Everybody has their favourite teams, but that is all going to be put on the back burner if all of a sudden one of our nephews is drafted to the Boston Bruins, a team I absolutely despise,” Rene said.

“It’s gonna make me reconsider the whole thing.”

While Pickering stands at a towering 6’4, seven inches taller than his great-grandfather while he played, Denton’s smaller size and offensive ability has the family seeing double, and celebrating when they saw a video of the young defenseman throwing a perfect hip-check while playing for the Moose Jaw Warriors in the WHL.

“Mom used to always say that he would defend with his butt,” Gushilak said.

“I can just visualize it. I’ve seen Denton play that way. That’s how he defends, and I think ‘oh my gosh, that must have been what dad did.’”

Denton and Owen will learn which teams they’ll start their professional careers on at the NHL draft July 7. No matter where they end up, they’ll have a fan base rooting for them to carry on their great-grandfather’s passion and competitive spirit.