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June 22nd, 1996 was a proud moment for the residents of fort McMurray. Its
native son, Christopher Ryan Phillips, born in Calgary but raised in this
vibrant Northern Community, had emerged into the hockey spotlight at the
early age of 17, being chosen as the first overall NHL draft by the Ottawa
Senators of the National Hockey League. Phillips at the age of 18, has
wasted no time in alerting the hockey world to his athletic gift and
future promise. As a member of the Canadian National Junior Team during
the World Junior Tournament in 1995/96 and 1996/97, he and his team-mates
won back to back gold medals. He captained the Canadian under 18 Team to a
silver medal in Japan in 1995 and Team Alberta to a silver at the Canadian
Winter Games in Grande Prairie, Alberta in February 1995.
Although proud of Chris Phillips accomplishments, his family, friends
and fans are more apt to describe this young man's strength of character
as his major attribute. The hockey success, they would argue, is a natural
product to the earnest dedication and zeal directed to everything he does
from his affectionate support of family to his unshaken commitment to his
team-mates. Modest, unassuming, down-to-earth and a friend always to the
Community of his youth; that is what makes Chris Phillips the Pride of
Fort McMurray.
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