Wayne Fleming (GETTY)
The legacy of late Canadian hockey coach Wayne Fleming will live on at the University of Manitoba with the renaming of a Fort Garry campus arena.
The Bisons’ hockey facility will be renamed the Wayne Fleming Arena at Max Bell Centre.
Born in Snow Lake, Fleming began his coaching career with the Bisons in 1980, where he remained for nine seasons. In 1985, he was named Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union Coach of the Year. Fleming also played for the Bisons for four years in the 1970s.
The U of M has also established the Wayne Fleming Legacy Athletic Scholarship and named defenceman and captain Dane Crowley as its first recipient. The scholarship has already raised $33,000 for the award, which is given to a Bison student-athlete that best exemplifies Fleming’s characteristics.
Crowley will be presented with the scholarship on Friday, October 4 during the Bisons season home opener at 7 p.m. against the Alberta Golden Bears. At the same time, an official ceremony to rename the arena will take place with Fleming’s wife, Carolyn, and his four children.
Fleming passed away on March 25, 2013 after his battle with brain cancer. He was 62.
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