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Community mourns former Bisons captain

An independent thinker with a magnetic personality is being mourned in the Foothills. Whether on or off the ice former Okotoks Bisons captain Zak Johns is remembered for his passion for hockey and truly one-of-a-kind spirit.

An independent thinker with a magnetic personality is being mourned in the Foothills.

Whether on or off the ice former Okotoks Bisons captain Zak Johns is remembered for his passion for hockey and truly one-of-a-kind spirit.

“Zak loved the team environment and hockey was his life,” said Rob Garagan, a friend of the Johns family. “The night he passed we just finished watching a couple periods of the game before he went out to meet some friends.

“Hockey was his life growing up.”

Johns was killed in a motorcycle crash two kilometres north of Champion, near the intersection of Highway 529 and Highway 23, on Saturday night.

He was 22.

“Just this past Christmas Eve, we had a big street hockey game with young kids and old kids alike,” Garagan said. “The one thing I will remember, is for being the youngest in the family he was unbelievably good with the young kids. He was such a kind spirit.”

The youngest of three siblings, Zak developed into an independent thinker and a self-taught handyman who knew his way around the mechanics of a vehicle.

Johns was studying to become an apprentice to work in the heating industry.

“He was just such a good sport about everything,” Garagan said. “To be such a young kid he had to have thick skin around us. We were always giving him the gears his entire life. An independent kid, really handy with cars, loved his dirt bikes, loved his street bikes.

“He was a quick learner, bilingual, the whole package. He’s going to be so missed.”

Remembered as a quick study, and keen learner with a boisterous personality, the 2012 Holy Trinity Academy graduate beat to the tune of his own drum and was not afraid to go against the grain.

“That’s what made him so likeable. If there was a mould, Zak was going to break it and in the most polite way. He wasn’t out to offend anyone,” Garagan said. “He had his own goals and visions and no one was going to stand in his way of that. From a young age he was so keen to learn, so outgoing and a different cat for a hockey player.”

Leadership in hockey became synonymous with Johns on the ice in Okotoks.

He was the captain of the Okotoks Midget AA Oilers’ provincial championship winning team in 2012 before embarking on a memorable run in the Junior ranks.

As a rookie with the Jr. B Bisons he helped the team to its first and only provincial championship.

“He’s someone we’ve had the opportunity to watch grow and mature with the game,” said Bisons vice-president Jay McFarlane. “He came in young, but very coachable and he took to our team staff and took the advice that was given for him to be a better hockey player and better leader.”

He would go on to win two Heritage Junior Hockey League titles with a penchant for big game performances in putting up 153 points in 183 games.

“You watch him on the ice, his elusiveness made him a standout,” McFarlane added. “He was a unique player. A lot of times you’re able to look at a player and say that reminds me of someone. Zak was his own player.”

Suiting up for his hometown Bisons meant the world to Johns. Even when he endured a challenging overage season and battled back from a broken fibula in the first game of the 2015-16 campaign.

“I think one of the most proud moments for Zak was to be able to play four years with the Bisons and for him to suffer that injury in his overage year it just tore him apart,” Garagan said. “I sat with him in October and November and watched him in the garage, just trying to put pressure on that leg, trying to do anything to get back on the ice.

“Really, he did go back a little too early and subsequently had a setback, but that was Zak. This his was last year and that was his team, those were his teammates and he loved every single one of them.”

A celebration of life for Zak Johns will be held on June 11 at 2 p.m. at the Foothills Centennial Centre.


Remy Greer

About the Author: Remy Greer

Remy Greer is the assistant editor and sports reporter for westernwheel.ca and the Western Wheel newspaper. For story tips contact [email protected]
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