All about family
Posted By MORGAN IAN ADAM, The Enterprise- Bulletin
It’s all about family for Barb Underhill.
The five-time Canadian pairs champion has strapped on figure skates for the first time in seven years and put herself back in the spotlight on CBC’s Battle of the Blades.
The reality show pits eight figure skating pairs — the women are former national and international champions, the guys are former NHLers — against each other to raise money for a good cause.
Underhill is a part-time Collingwood resident who once owned a restaurant, Jet North, on Collingwood’s waterfront, and still has family living in the area; her sister lives in Thornbury, while her brother is in Creemore.
For this ‘competition’, Underhill is paired with Ron Duguay, a centreman who spent time with the New York Rangers, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and the Los Angeles Kings. He’s currently an in-studio analyst on Rangers’ broadcasts.
With partner Paul Martini, Underhill won five national championships, a world championship, and a host of world professional championships. She retired from skating in 1988, and has since been inducted into the World Skating Hall of Fame, Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame, Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.
“I feel like it’s all surreal; I’m living a dream,” she said. “When I retired in 1988, we did that last show at Maple Leaf Gardens… we finished on a high note, but it was very hard to just leave something that had been my passion my whole life.
“It’s like a light went out inside of me… as fulfilled as I am as a mother and I have a busy life, nothing has replaced skating and performing,” she said.
However, the show isn’t just a chance to be back in the public eye; Underhill’s charity of choice is the Bloorview Kids Rehab, Canada’s largest children’s rehabilitation and teaching hospital.
And with good reason — Underhill’s niece Melissa, who lives in Thornbury, has spinal bifida, has spent “months and months” at Bloorview to receive treatment.
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Don’t forget to vote for Barb and Ron every Sunday night. Visit www.battleoftheblades to show your support!
