Lantz Hiebert
Q: Hey Lantz, thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview from the road. First off, do you mind give our readers a quick intro?
A: No problem, thank you. I was born in The Pas back in 1997 and raised by my parents Terry and Carolyn Hiebert. My siblings are my older brother Lucas and younger brother Logan. Obviously, I love hockey, but aside from that I enjoy fishing and hunting, ripping around on my dirt bike, playing baseball and golf, and also enjoy wakeboarding and working out. Growing up in The Pas, I attended Kelsey School and Scott Batman, and for High School I was fortunate to go to Notre Dame for all 4 years.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your hockey career?
A: My hockey career started right here in The Pas at the Roy H playing for the Huskies, from learning to skate to playing bantam AA when I was 13, then I attended Notre Dame my second year bantam and played for the Bantam AAA Notre Dame Hounds. I was honoured to be named assistant captain that year, the following year I played Midget AA for the Notre Dame Argos, alongside my older brother Lucas who was captain that year. In grade 11, I made the Midget AAA Hounds and was an assistant captain on that team and my final year at Notre Dame, as a senior, I played on the AAA Hounds once again and was named captain. I also played on team Saskatchewan for the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships and was a 2 time national champion in 2014-15. Now I play for the OCN Blizzard for the last 2 years and I couldn't be more happy with the way things are working out this year.
Q: Living in the North has distinct challenges and positives. What are some of the things that you like about it?
A: Nothing comes close to living up north. Yes, there are challenges for sure, but the things I love about the north is being able to go ice fishing in the winter time on different lakes and rivers and catch different species of fish. I also really enjoy moose hunting in the fall. It's only a 15 minutes drive to go to the one of the most beautiful lakes in Canada, Clearwater Lake, where we go boating or hang out with friends. It's also nice living in a small northern place because when you go in a store or walk down the street, you recognize people and they always are wondering about the Blizzard. You can have a conversations with just about anyone, and the vibe seems so much more friendly than in bigger cities.
Q: The Blizzard Send-Off was just happening earlier today, and the GLMC and all down Main Street there was huge support. How does that make you feel?
A: The send off was amazing!! We definitely have the BEST fans in the MJHL - getting all that support from the school kids and all the business around The Pas and OCN honking their horns and cheering so loud as we passed by. That was something that I'll never forget, it sure boosted my spirit and I'm sure it boosted everyone else's too. Now we just have to make the fans even more proud and bring back the cup!
Q: What are your future plans?
A: My future plans are to stay in The Pas and play for the Blizzard again next season as it will be my last year of junior hockey. I await to see if I get any offers to go play hockey and attend school after next year. If not, I was thinking about joining Manitoba Hydro to start a career.
Q: Best of luck with your series, all of NorMan is behind you guys. Did you have any final words for our readers?
A: Thank you again for having me so glad that everyone is supporting our team and we'll do our best to make our fans proud. For the kids out there I just wanted to say follow your dreams and never give up trying to achieve the things you want in life.
