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Frank Pyde, new name for rink?

The Jim Ciccone Civic Centre ice rink may be getting a new name this season.
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Prince Rupert city council is set to discuss renaming the ice rink at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre after Rupert Rampage co-founder Frank Pyde.

The Jim Ciccone Civic Centre’s ice rink may be getting a new name this season.

Prince Rupert city council tabled a motion at last week’s meeting to be put forward at its Sept. 12 meeting to discuss renaming the rink in honour of Dr. Frank Pyde, who lost his battle with cancer on Aug. 16.

The idea to rename the rink after Pyde came from Rosa Miller, who is the risk manager for minor hockey.

“Frank was always someone who was involved in hockey, minor hockey, the Rampage. His name was synonymous with hockey,” said Miller, who has been friends with the Pyde family for years.

She first met Pyde when she was a patient at his dentist office at age six or seven. Then, sometime around 1995, Miller’s husband, Brian, starting giving Pyde guitar lessons and that’s when the two families became better friends.

“Frank would give you the shirt off his back. He wouldn’t think twice about it, so I just thought that this is something he would have never expected or aspired to do. I thought it was a neat way to recognize his legacy.”

Measuring Pyde’s impact on the community is hard to put into words, Miller said. She added that people all over town have been expressing their condolences for him, even those that didn’t really know him.

“Everyone in the community is talking about how great a person he was. He’s just one of those people.”

Miller contacted Mayor Lee Brain to ask him how to go about the process of renaming the rink, and he brought up the idea at the end of the last council meeting on Aug. 22.

Also at the council meeting, Coun. Wade Neish addressed Pyde’s passing.

“I’d like to pass out my condolences for a man who has done a lot for this community. It was a sad day to hear of his passing. He’s done a lot for sports in this town and hockey especially,” he said.

Pyde co-founded the Rupert Rampage in 2008 and was also coach and general manager for four years.