Six new members of Moncton’s Sports Wall of Fame will take their places among the city’s sports icons next month.

The 2025 class was just announced, and includes four builders, a record-setting athlete and a three-time provincial champion baseball team.

“This year’s inductees exemplify the spirit of sportsmanship, both in their exceptional achievements and in the way they continue to inspire and support the sports community,” Randy Roth, chair of the Wall of Fame board, said in a statement announcing the inductees.

Inductees for 2025 include:

• Ulysse George Doiron (builder) – Boxing
• Serge LeBlanc (builder) – Hockey
• Normand Léger (builder) – Sports Journalism
• James William Riley (builder) – Hockey
• Christopher Rochon (athlete) – Track and Field
• The Moncton Junior Keefe Cubs 1984-1986 (team) – Baseball

The induction ceremony will be at the Capitol Theatre Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. Tickets are free and available at the Capitol Theatre box office, by phone at 506-856-4379, or online at capitol.nb.ca.

Ulysse George Doiron (builder) – Boxing

Doiron is an accomplished boxer whose passion for the sport contributed to its revival in New Brunswick in the 1980s.

Doiron was the 1980 Eastern Canada Middleweight Champion and a 1989 inductee to the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame.

He competed at the amateur level from 1966 to 1976, winning two Maritime and three New Brunswick Golden Glove Championships. He turned professional in 1976, compiling a record of 15 wins and three losses before retiring in 1984.

Doiron continued in the sport as an official and ringside judge for many years and as a coach for several decades. In 1988, he founded the F.I.S.T.S. Amateur Boxing Club, and continues to be active in the boxing community.

Serge LeBlanc (builder) – Hockey

LeBlanc is well-known as the equipment manager for some of Canada’s most successful hockey teams of the last three decades.

LeBlanc has served more than 125 games with different incarnations of Team Canada. His international resumé includes medal-winning performances at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, two Women’s Senior World Championships (2021, 2022), two U18 Women’s World Championships (2015, 2016) and two Men’s World Junior Championships (2008, 2011). He was also part of the gold-winning Canadian men’s team at the 2013 Winter Universiade.

LeBlanc was the equipment manager for the Moncton Wildcats for 11 seasons, including the Gilles-Courteau Trophy-winning teams in 2006 and 2010.

Normand Léger (builder) – Sports Journalism

Léger has played an important role chronicling, developing and promoting sports in New Brunswick. Whether as a sportswriter and photographer, event founder and organizer, referee, coach, or volunteer, his passion for athletics has created numerous opportunities for multiple generations of competitors and teams

Léger co-founded and sustained the Jeux de l’Acadie, reporting on the first-ever games at the Université de Moncton in 1979. He also documented the history of the games with books marking their 10th and 40th anniversaries.

In his career as a sports reporter, he covered major international events including the 1972 Summit hockey series between Canada and the Soviet Union, the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, and the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. Since 2008, he has been the communications officer for the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus.

James William Riley (builder) – Hockey

Riley was a trailblazer both on the ice and behind the bench, establishing a long legacy of nurturing talent across Atlantic Canada.

The third Black player in the NHL, Riley played 139 regular-season games for the Washington Capitals and the original Winnipeg Jets from 1974 to 1980. He later settled in Moncton and captained the AHL’s New Brunswick Hawks to a Calder Cup in 1982, before serving as captain of the Nova Scotia Voyageurs and becoming assistant coach of the Moncton Alpines in 1983.

Riley coached several teams in Atlantic Canada in the ensuing years, in St. John’s, Amherst, N.S., and Miramichi.

He was a key part of establishing the Moncton Wildcats, serving as the first head coach in franchise history during the 1996-1997 season.

Riley has built a reputation for donating his time to hockey clinics, practices and special appearances, and for mentoring Black and underprivileged players.

Riley was inducted into the Canadian Black Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Multi-Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.

Christian Rochon (athlete) – Track and Field

Rochon was the first New Brunswicker to win a gold medal in the Canadian Senior National Track and Field Championship decathlon, setting provincial records for points earned and for the pole vault at the 2018 event. He followed that up with a silver in the same event in 2019.

Rochon set four more provincial records during his career:

• 2016 – highest points total at the Atlantic Track and Field Championships
• 2015 – U23 male pentathlon (indoor)
• 2014 – U23 decathlon at the Canadian National Senior Track and Field Championships
• 2011 – U20 decathlon at the Canadian Junior Championships

Rochon represented New Brunswick at the Canada Summer Games in 2009 and 2013, as well as at the 2017 Jeux de la Francophonie in Côte d’Ivoire.

The Moncton Keefe Cubs Junior Baseball Team 1984-1986 (team) – Baseball

The Cubs won three straight provincial championships between 1984 and 1986, along with back-to-back Atlantic championships in 1985 and 1986.

In the provincial playoffs in 1985 and again 1986, the team showed great heart and tenacity, winning seven elimination games in a row.

When not on the field for the Cubs, players supported daily baseball clinics in the community and umpired youth games, with several taking roles as coaches, educators and leaders in their later years.

The team included: Serge Babineau, Luc Belliveau, Mike BeLong, Bob Bowser (coach and manager), Ronnie Bourque, Don Cormier, Ola Cormier, Rhéal Cormier, Terry Coyle, Dave Daigle, George Ferrier (coach), Chris Gibson, Andy Grenier, Jamie Hynes, Bruce Landry, Jean Marc LeBlanc, Grant Lipscombe, Scott MacLean (player then coach), Brent MacTavish, John McCarthy, Roger McGraw, Larry McDonald, Stephen McWilliam, Gary Melanson, Tim Melanson, Gary Mellon, Charlie Michelin, Ross Sobey, and Rod Savoie.