It was just after 7 p.m. on an evening in April when a blue-eyed man, who said his name was Francis Poirier, told young Steven Rigutto that all his hockey dreams were coming true, says Steven's father, John.
Four months later, the 17-year-old and his family returned from an international tournament that never was, with the realization that a future playing pro hockey in France would never come to pass. The European scouts that were to watch the tournament never materialized, nor did the opposing teams.
About 60 Canadian hockey players went on the trip, which was organized by a group called Ontario Central Scouting. Before the OCS website was taken offline Wednesday, it listed "Francis" as the main contact. However, the domain-name registration for the site lists someone else as its administrator: an Ontario man named Randy Gumbley, who is currently charged with multiple counts of fraud.
Mr. Gumbley, the former owner of the Streetsville Derbys Junior-A team, was charged in May, 2008. He allegedly recruited young players from Australia and the United States to attend a private hockey school in Brampton and play in a Canadian league. Parents paid as much as $15,000 per player for tuition, hockey and housing, but no services were provided, Peel police said at the time.
Mr. Gumbley's trial under those charges is ongoing. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 20, according to mississauganews.com .
"I think he owns OCS," said Victor Criscuolo, a coach who helped to organize the OSC trip. "I don't understand how this has anything to do with this trip."
According to Hockey Canada, Canadian teams typically require its permission to play at tournaments abroad. OCS didn't apply, and in May, the International Ice Hockey Federation told its European leagues to pull teams out of the tournament. Mr. Criscuolo said no one had told OCS about the change, even as all the other teams withdrew.
Many of the players who paid $1,999 (U.S.) to be part of the tournament in France were unaware of Mr. Gumbley's connection to OCS.
"He was coming off as Francis," said John Rigutto from his home in Woodbridge Wednesday, just hours after landing at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. Mr. Rigutto went on the trip with his son, Steven, who also participated in another OCS trip to Europe in April.
"It went off without a hitch," Mr. Rigutto said of the April trip. "A few days after they got back, around suppertime, I got a call from Francis saying my son was one of the ones they were interested in bringing over to play."
Mr. Rigutto said he arranged a meeting with Francis at the home of another player whose family had been told the same thing. The face-to-face meeting lasted three hours, Mr. Rigutto said, but the man may not have been Francis Poirier at all.
Mr. Rigutto said he has reason to believe Mr. Gumbley and Francis Poirier are one and the same.
Peel police are continuing to investigate the OCS tournament, said Constable Adam Minnion Wednesday, but had not yet decided whether charges would be laid.
"We're not even in the position to commit to the fact that this is a fraud yet," Constable Minnion said. "We're still weighing in on the notion that this may be a civil dispute. We're no further ahead."
Police would not comment on a possible connection of Mr. Gumbley to the case.
A Brampton address was listed for Mr. Gumbley in the domain registration of the OCS website. No one was home Wednesday afternoon, but neighbours said a woman lives there with her two teenage sons.
John Rigutto said if he had ever suspected that the organization was linked to someone under charges of fraud, he never would have sent his son to Europe.
"My son is devastated, and he's embarrassed. We've told family, we've told friends," Mr. Rigutto said. Travel and expenses for the family to take the trip together amounted to about $10,000 in total, he said, all because they'd been told in April that Steven would be signed by recruiters in Europe.
"He said, 'Do you understand what is being offered here? This is not a game any more.' …We didn't want to deprive him of the opportunity," Mr. Rigutto said.
"For a 17-year-old kid to have the opportunity to play pro hockey in Europe, it's the dream. He wasn't going to make it here, he's too small, but the last tournament over there he did really well," he said. Because the April trip had gone so smoothly, the family didn't suspect anything would be different this time, he added.
"It was a disaster."