Valkyries head coach reflects on legacy of Justin Filteau

Saskatchewan’s football community is coping with the death of Justin Filteau.

The former Saskatoon Hilltop and U of S Huskie died in a plane crash just outside of Medicine Hat on the weekend.

Filteau, 26, and two other passengers aboard the American Aviation AA-5B four-seater aircraft were en route to Moose Jaw Saturday.

Filteau’s reason for the trip was to make it to the Saskatoon Valkyries game against the Regina Riot at Mosaic Stadium so he could resume his defensive line coaching responsibilities.

Saskatoon Valkyries head coach Pat Barry says the team got news of Filteau’s passing prior to Sunday’s kickoff.

A friend of (Filteau’s) notified us when we were getting close to Regina that there had been an incident,” Barry said. “A few minutes after that we got a message from (the friend) saying that he didn’t make it in the plane crash.”

“Basically when we were rolling up to Mosaic Stadium is when we first found out as coaches and staff.”

Barry took awhile to confront the team with the news, and didn’t know how to exactly put it.

“I’ve never gone through anything quite like that,” Barry said, not wanting to mess with his team’s pre-game rituals.

“It was difficult and it definitely messed us up getting ready for that football game.”

Preparing for the game seemed nearly impossible with less than an hour to go before the game, then a phone call from Nancy Filteau so she could relay some messages to the team.

“I think that’s one of the only reasons we were able to get through it yesterday,” he said. “She’s my new hero. I don’t know how she was able to be so upbeat and actually make me feel better.

“She talked about his zest for life, how he treated all of his sports like a family, then she talked about heart, doing everything with heart, and that’s definitely something Justin (Filteau) did in everything that I’ve ever seen him do.”

The Valkyries went on to beat the Riot 22-7 to put the finishing touches on an undefeated 2019 season.

Most of his teammates will say Filteau had some interesting dances that always brought out a smile, but it’s the infectious laughter that Barry will remember most.

“He had this sort of crazy laugh that we used to hear a lot,” Barry said. “He would start smiling, and this sort of crazy giggle that he had, it would cause just about everyone else in the room to start laughing as well.”

It was reported Monday that the three men flying to Moose Jaw were leaving a bachelor party in Medicine Hat. The other two men — Jim Wilk and Kerry DePape of Moose Jaw — were the father of the groom and the father of the bride for an upcoming August wedding.

Barry thinks the legacy Filteau left should make us all want to be better people.

“At 26-years-old, you really are seeing in the last 24 or 48 hours, how many lives that he touched. I think we could all hope to do so well in an entire lifetime,” he said.