Aaron Duval's Passing

On  April 26, 2021 the Penetang-Midland area lost one of the most iconic ball hockey players in our illustrious history.  Aaron Duval who was a playing member in our area from 1994 to 2014 passed away suddenly leaving his family, friends and teammates in shock.

Duval who would have been 34 years of age on May 5 represented our community Provincially, Nationally and Internationally over the years.  He will be sadly missed by anyone you was fortunate enough to know him.

Duval who was also an accomplished ice hockey player having won an OMHA Championship with Penetanguishene Minor Hockey and two OHA Junior C Championships with the Penetang Kings was an excellent athlete as demonstrated by his prowess in other sports such as fastball and cross county running among others.

He began his ball hockey career in the houseleague of the PMMBHL and first excelled at the 1997 Novice Provincials scoring 6 goals and 4 assists in 5 games in leading the Penetanguishene Blazers to the Ontario Ball Hockey Association Novice AA championship in Sudbury.  His performance at the Provincial level led to him being named the OBHA Minor's Division Player of the Year.  At the awards banquet it was noted that Duval was to be acknowledge for his overall team play, defensive responsiblilties and aggressive pursuit of the ball.

During his long career Duval was part of many successful teams including the 1998 OBHA Atom A champions, the 1999 OBHA Atom AA finalists and the 2005 OBHA Junior AA champions. In 2004 Duval was part of the first team from the PMMBHL to attend the CBHA Junior Nationals as an underage player.  Duval who was born in 1987 was one of only two underage players on the team comprised of players born in 1985 and 86 who went to Edmonton, Alberta and came home with a Bronze Medal. In the opening game he was named MVP of the Penetanguishene squad.

In 2004 Duval was once again recognized by the OBHA at their annual awards dinner when he received the Junior Provincial Player of Year for his ablility to see the floor, make accurate passes, timely goal scoring along with his unselfish and sportmanlike play.  To this day Duval is the only Penetanguishene player to ever receive two OBHA individual awards for his efforts.

Not only did he excell with his Blazer teammates, Duval was part of two Penetanguishene Secondary School ball hockey teams that won Provincial AA Championships in 2004 and 2005.  He particularily enjoyed the 2004 Championship final game when PSS defeated a strong high school team from Holy Cross Catholic Academy in Woodbridge.  The Woodbridge school was baiting the Penetanguishene players during the warm-up but by the 10 minute mark of the first period PSS was in control of the game with a quick 3-0 lead enroute to the championship.  Duval always enjoyed being part of any team that represented his hometown.

He was also part two other Blazers clubs that went to CBHA Junior Nationals, in 2005 his team travelled to Prince Edward Island and 2006 Kitchener, Ontario.

He was named to the Canadian U20 team that attended the World Ball Hockey Championships in Aosta, Italy along with fellow Penetanguishene players Evan Cole and Marc Duquette.  The team would capture Bronze at the championships with Duval scoring 4 goals and 3 assists over the course of the tournament.

After graduating to Men's ball hockey, Duval continued to represent our area on a number of teams and in 2010 he was part of the OBHA Men's B Championship Penetanguishene squad that attended the Provincials in Ottawa.

On three occassions he was also part of the coaching staffs of younger teams who attended Provincials winning two championships.  He enjoyed mentoring the younger players on many of the finer aspects of the game.

He will always be remembered for his infectious smile, extraordinary skill set (he could stick handle in a phone booth), determination, sportsmanships and unselfish play. He always enjoyed celebrating the success of his teammates.

The Penetang Midland Minor Ball Hockey League sincerely expresses our condolences to his family, parents Mike and Donna and his brothers Kevin, Bradley (Casie) and sister Emily (Justin Henry) his grandparents Pauline Brooks and Maurice Charlebois,his special love in his life, Mariah Sandy-Monague, his many aunts, uncles and cousins as well as his many friends and teammates.

Ball hockey in our community has lost a great one and will never be quite the same.