The 39th Class of Inductees into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is top heavy with Thunder Bay athletes.
Former NHL’er Taylor Pyatt, diver Jason Napper and hockey and tennis star Gerry Cizmar will all join the Athlete category.
Patti Kitler and Ken Slater are being recognized in the Builder category.
The Team category will welcome the members of the 2017 Trevor Bonot Mixed Curling Team.
Trevor is originally from Stratton but now calls Thunder Bay home.
His team consisted of Kory Carr, Megan Westlund Carr and Jackie Bonot McCormick from Fort Frances.
The first in-person ceremony in two years is Saturday September 17 at the Valhalla Inn.
Here is a write-up of each inductee from the NWO Sports Hall of Fame:
-Gerry Cizmar will be honoured posthumously for his exceptional all-round athletic accomplishments in a wide variety of sports spanning the 1970s to 90s, including 4 Allan Cup titles in hockey and multiple tennis
titles, as well as his contributions as a coach and mentor.
-Jason Napper competed successfully as a member of the Thunder Bay Diving Club during the 1980s and 90s, bringing home multiple medals from national and international meets as well as the 1989 Canada Summer
Games, 1991 World University Games and 1994 Commonwealth Games going on to give back to the sport as a coach and volunteer.
-Thunder Bay’s Taylor Pyatt enjoyed a successful junior career with the Sudbury Wolves which saw him earn a first round 1999 NHL draft pick, going 8th overall. Making his NHL debut in 2000 with the New York
Islanders, he went on to spend 13 seasons in the NHL, skating in over 900 NHL regular seasons and playoff games with a variety of clubs before retiring with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014.
-Two people are being recognized in the Builder category including Patti Kitler who got her start coaching cross-country skiing in the early 1980s in Thunder Bay, going on to spend forty-plus years providing
opportunities for people of all abilities working with such groups as the Lake Superior Ski Division, Big Thunder Nordic, Cross Country Ontario and Cross Country Canada and serving as a coach and innovator with
Para Nordic programs.
-Thunder Bay’s Ken Slater truly dedicated himself to sports in his community as a long-time volunteer whose years of dedication to sport over five decades, from the 1950s to 90s, saw him serve as an active coach, official,
and organizer in both curling and soccer, as well as serving as the Chairman of soccer for the 1981 Canada Summer Games.
-The Team category will welcome the members of the 2017 Trevor Bonot Mixed Curling Team including Trevor Bonot (Skip), Jackie Bonot McCormick (Third), Kory Carr (Second) and Megan Westlund Carr (Lead)
who claimed the Canadian Mixed Curling title and a silver medal at the 2017 World Mixed Curling Championship, the first medal ever won by a Canadian rink at that competition.
