THE IDEA WAS HATCHED FOR THE LOVABLE LOSERS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT, INITIALLY, AS A WAY TO SATISFY TWO NEEDS FOR THE RINK RATS
WE THOUGHT, WITH GOOD INTENT, THAT PROMOTING A TOURNAMENT FOR "LOSERS" WOULD GET IMMEDIATE MEDIA ATTENTION, AND BOOST OUR FUNDRAISING CAPABILITIES
Rink Rats were solid team-mates on the ice, and good friends as civilians. We did quite a few things together, because we found a lot of common ground, let's just say, that we would never have guessed we had, when we first met in a crowded dressing room, judging the quality of each others skates, sticks and hockey pads. All recreational hockey players judge new members of the club, initially, by the skates they're wearing. It moves on and up from there. First off, it was obvious we were all of modest income, and not looking to commit to expensive gear in the early going, of a new relationship with a bunch of lads with undetermined qualifications, and commitment to show up each week to justify coming out in the first place. What happened over time, was that we found shared interests in business and hobbies, and social activities, which broadened the more we got to know each other. It's important to know this, because it was the mortar than bound us together as a club, and as a benevolent group serving the needs of the community. It was very much a democracy, although Brant Scott and I did much of the early organization work, such as arranging ice time at the Bracebridge arena, and getting enough players to cover the seasonal costs. We had a pretty agreeable bunch, which was nice, because we threw some early curves at them, when we mustered support for early fundraisers, to set the tempo we wanted for the future. Very early on, Brant developed some heart problems, that limited the amount of time he could play, in any one game, but he continued with his support in other ways. Ed Kowalsky stepped in early in the team's chronology to take-on some of the tasks facing us, when putting on exhibition hockey games, which necessitated considerable investment of time to make sure there were no problems on game night. In those years, because of our association with Muskoka Publications, and specifically The Herald-Gazette, we were reminded constantly about representing our business in the most positive light. We had to walk a tight-rope in this regard, and it meant attention to detail, and for Brant and I, we couldn't have pulled these events off without team effort, right down to co-ordinating ticket sales, and assisting arena staff with crowd control and clean-up when the game concluded. We came to expect an awful lot from the Rink Rat players, and they delivered. The creation of the Lovable Losers' Hockey Tournament, was a sort of dividend for the players, who wanted more action for their recreational investment. We had no problem selling our mates on the tournament idea, or volunteering to make it come to fruition. We could have used twice as many volunteers to handle all the jobs, but we got by each year, and truth be know, many players from other teams, chipped in to help us out. Now this was epic for us, and showed very clearly, how sportsmanship went well beyond the ice surface.
I really don't know how much money we raised for the Bracebridge Blades Precision Skating teams, in the early to mid 1980's, but I think it was quite substantial. I know we gave money to the Recreation Committee of the Town of Bracebridge, to help fund a new ice resurfacing machine, when the old tractor finally kicked the bucket. I'm pretty sure we began giving money to other groups in the last half of the 1980's, and early 90's, but I can't be sure due to the fog of near-senior age.
This five part series of retrospectives about the formation of the orginal Rink Rat hockey club, and the annual Lovable Losers Hockey Tournament, is dedicated to the fine work of the club and tournament organizers, now ready for the ceremonial face-off on Friday afternoon, at the Bracebridge arena. It will mark the 30th anniversary of the tournament, and pretty much the 35th anniversary of the team itself. I was in on both inaugurations, in 1980 and 1985 respectively. This is the occasion when the historian really feels part of the history he's writing about.
Just as The Herald-Gazette Rink Rats were media darlings from the 1980-81 winter season, because, of course, we were promoting our weekly newspaper, which belonged to the broader Muskoka Publications, the creation of the Lovable Losers Hockey Tournament came along in much the same fashion and zeal for headlines; a few lads sitting around dodging the work of the day, and thinking about recreational opportunities instead. We used to do that a lot in the newsroom, where we were supposed to be writing front page copy, to fill in the white spaces between the advertisements.
Heading to the mid 1980's, we had pretty much dropped association with The Herald-Gazette, in media references, which hinged on the fact our newspaper wasn't as big on offering us free advertising space any longer, or extending cash to offset event costs. I was still working at the newspaper, but Brant Scott had moved on to other writing gigs. Ed Kowalsky took his spot as a co-manager of the Rink Rats, which had recently merged with The Wombat hockey club, from the Tuesday, eleven to midnight ice slot. I honestly can't remember all the details about how we organized the first tournament, around the old coffee urn, with a very loose board of directors, other than what was provided by the general membership of the newly merged team.
I just wanted to add this little note, to the Rink Rat history, because it's deserving of mention. It was Brant Scott who first negotiated with the manager of the Bracebridge Parks and Recreation Committee, to get our ice slot; yes, that amazingly awful eleven to twelve slot every Wednesday night, or what we came to know as the "divorce" hour. The manager them, was Tom Robinson, and boy oh boy, did we have a tussle with him for quite few years, trying to weasel deals on rental costs, and also, securing a better ice time. Tom used to hate to see us coming through his office door, but over time, we actually looked forward to the for-fun locking of horns, but it always worked out for the best. When Tom took an upper level job with Parks and Recreation, we had to negotiate with an understudy - several who didn't last long in the job, until Jack Sinclair, who we had known from our own high school days, took over, and gave us a great break in price, but guaranteed us, in the same breath, that unless we suddenly became royalty, we'd have to stick with the last rental hour of the day. To arrange the tournaments, we always had great support from Parks and Recreation management, which made things a lot easier on organizers, stressed with hundreds of other details.
I can't remember all those who were sitting around the coffee urn, talking hockey, on that day, the name "Lovable Losers" came to mind, other than I put it up for consideration, and was probably the first to put it into print, via The Herald-Gazette; but most likely The Muskoka Advance, the Sunday "free" publication that I was editing at around this time. The original idea, was to create a tournament without any pretense that winning was the end-all. The concept was to reward the "best sports," of the losing squads. It was a provincial and possibly national first, that a hockey tournament wasn't going to make a big deal out of the club that took top honors in each category of play. It wasn't the case, that the best performing hockey teams wouldn't be recognized, but rather, it wouldn't be a tournament where excellence, on the score-sheet, was going to be the headline grabber at the end of play. It was, instead, going to be a celebration of recreational hockey, where sportsmanship ranked higher than the number of victories notched. Seemed like a good idea, to get our tournament some regional "ink" in the community press, and some air time on regional radio and television stations. Worked according to plan, that's for sure! Who the hell would think of starting a tournament that praises the losing clubs? The Rink Rats, that's who!
In those first few years, running the tournament, we had lots of problems with some of the teams we had selected to join with us. We had note done our own due diligence, to sit down with each of the teams entered, before the tournament got underway, to make sure, it was crystal clear, organizers had instructed the referees, to eject any player for fighting, or showing extreme unsportsmanlike conduct. Oh boy, it didn't take long, in that first tournament, to find out what can happen when the rules of the specific tournament are not clarified before teams hit the ice. Ed Kowalsky was in charge of officiating on these matters, and there were quite a few ejections as I recall, and most definitely a considerable amount of unsportsmanlike conduct. We took a lot of heat from pissed-off players, but not issuing any apologies, and even in the years following, we had to discipline entire teams for violating our code of conduct. And yes, some teams were, let's just say, "smoking-up," in the dressing rooms, which was really nuts, considering we had a team made up of Ontario Provincial Police officers, also entered in the tournament. Ed, a constable himself, had his hand full keeping all this all under control, while I co-ordinated the upstairs bar, and food services. On another occasion, a suspended player, made an ovation, at the food concession, that he might just make a complaint about the way we were keeping the side-of-beef hot, without a large oven at our disposal. He was a tad vengeful and this was how he was going to get back at organizers. Suzanne was way ahead on this one, and could prove the temperature under foil, was more than adequate to avoid any health issues. She was a teacher, who was, that term, also in charge of culinary arts and catering at Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School. The players lined-up for their hot beef sandwiches, that were selling fast by the way, pushed the unhappy camper away from the counter, while scolding him for, of all things, being a poor sport. It was a highlight for me, that's for sure, where the players themselves were policing the event for us.
Each year, when it came to selecting teams for the tournament, all the problems of the previous event(s), were analyzed and weighed-over, and of course, there were teams denied entry, because of actions and reactions witnessed during play, and in the auditorium where some bad actors found their performance stage. It wasn't a huge problem, in part, because there were often numerous players in the hall, from the OPP team, which did soften the situation down to a dull roar. In my years of association with the tournament, we had only a few serious disruptions of sportsmanlike play, which according to stats of other major tournaments in the region, was pretty mild, in respect to the number of players involved in the three day tournament, and the number of teams registered. We learned over time, to visit with each team prior to them going on the ice, just to act as goodwill ambassadors, more than anything else, and to make sure everyone understood the zero tolerance rule for unsportsmanlike conduct; which was more about fighting than cussing at the referees. We didn't like that either, but we let the refs decide what was in-bounds, and what was penalty material. They were great refs because they kept tight control right from the beginning of each game, and penalized all those who were showing early signs of unwanted aggression. For a media-friendly event, with a lot of coverage potential, each tournament, we didn't want to make headlines for hosting a "brawling" tournament, when we were advertising the virtues of being able to lose with dignity.
During the last tournament I was involved in, with the Rink Rat hockey club, as an assistant coach, I had two memorable situations occur. First of all, I nearly had my toes severed, when Wayne Klager, a mountain of a man, lost his balance coming up the several stairs to the player's bench, fresh off the ice, and came down with his full weight, and skate blade, onto my soft shoe, on my left foot. I have never suffered such incredible pain first of all, and it was my first serious hockey injury, since I first began playing at seven years of age. And I was a goalie for most of this time. Although my toes weren't severed, they were cut-up and blackened. The pain lasted for months after, and even though no bones were broken, there were many disruptions with blood flow, tendons and affected nerves. To this day, by golly, I can tell when bad weather is coming two days away. I think about Wayne every time they start acting up. It wasn't his fault. It was mine, for not having steel toe boots on, much better for mingling with big lads with sharp skates.
The second situation that developed, unfortunately, involved the host club getting in a small but significant on-ice fight. One of our smaller, less proficient players, had been knocked to the ice by an opposition defenceman, and a Rink Rat forward, sensing it was necessary to avenge the body check, which was fair according to the refs, dropped his gloves and grabbed the sweater of the offending player. From behind the bench I tried to call the forward back to the bench, the moment the gloves hit the ice. It marked the first time in Rink Rat tournament play, that a full fight had broken out, and there was nothing we could do, in order to stop it from escalating to involve other players. It was the first time I became the only dissenting voice, and it was admittedly a little weird, to be chastised by others on the team, who for some reason, thought I was betraying the Rink Rat code, by yelling at the perpetrator wearing the emblem of "the Rat". The fight that got most attention, for the spectators, was between myself and another assistant Rink Rat coach, who took great exception to my reaction. He felt that our player had done the right thing under the circumstances, based on the check to his under-sized team-mate. While it didn't come to blows, it was obvious to me, that the entire team on the bench sided with my new adversary, and I must admit, it was the moment, when I realized my time with the club was pretty much over. I couldn't agree with this point of view, even if it was one of those all-for-one, one-for-all moments, in the heat of battle. We were the hosts of a tournament that was devoted to sportsmanlike play, and seeing as I was intimately involved in establishing this as the rules for the event, in the first place, I did feel it was time to back away quietly, and allow the futurists of the club, to deal with the event constitution in their own way. I would be remiss to avoid mentioning this small, brief downside to a great club, and tournament history. History is influenced by all kinds of occurrences, positive and negative, so for this historian, it was just another chapter of many, and I found my contribution wasn't particularly desired any longer. It's not like it was the beginning of a trend, or anything like that, because the club and tournament have operated well, and fairly, for all these many years. And it's all that really counts, in the final tally of what makes something successful, or on the other side, a failure. You don't hit a thirty year anniversary without dealing with obstacles, and overcoming them. Now, for the record, I was in a hockey fight myself, but I was playing that day for The Wombats, not the Rink Rats, and it was in a pick-up game, not the Lovable Losers Tournament. Even then, the only reason I put my hands up in defence, was to block the blows from my opponent, who had ripped off my helmet, and was beating me over the head with it. Still felt bad about being in a dust-up regardless.
The most serious injury that occurred, was on one of the final hockey nights of the season, during our eleven to midnight time slot, on the particular Wednesday night, when Ed Kowalsky, our netminder, and Phil Langois, an opposition forward during our scrimmage, raced at each other, in order to get to the puck first. It was right up the centre, and Phil was flying down the ice. Ed thought he could skate out, and dive on the puck before Phil could get to it; and the collision was horrific. Phil was literally catipolted by momentum, and obstruction, into the air, coming down awkwardly on his leg. If memory serves, Phil wound up behind the net, against the boards, sprawled on the ice with obvious breaks to his leg. Ed was unscathed. It was one of those hockey plays that occur over and over again, without so much as a scratch to opposing players. This one ended badly, and Phil had to contend with months of being in a cast.
The only other time I can remember a serious injury, in a Rink Rat scrimmage, was when I took a hard wrist shot on net, and the opposing defenceman, Peter Renick, put his stick in front, and the angle of the blade deflected the puck sharply upwards, smashing him on the tip of his nose. It was a slider because I didn't want to hurt anyone standing in front of the net at that moment. The ramp that was created by the stick blade, gave the puck the sudden, sharp lift, and I felt horrible when I saw it hit him. At first I thought it had hit him in the eye. It was his nose, and I believe it had been broken. I was pretty sure this was the doctor's opinion at the hospital. It's quite true, that I was known as having a hefty wrist shot, and frequently passed the puck at waist level, simply because I had poor skills in this regard. I remember the night Gil Scott, brother of Brant, took me aside, after one particularly wicked pass, to the throat, and demonstrated the proper way to pass a puck to a team-mate. Not at mouth or waist level. I had been a career goaltender, shooting pucks with a heavy, fat stick, until we commenced the Rink Rats, and I found my opportunity to become a late-in-life right winger. I did eventually learn how to keep a pass on the ice, but it took a couple of seasons of being reprimanded.
Here now, in keeping with this tribute to the 30th anniversary of the Lovable Losers Hockey Tournament, and the 35th anniversary of the Rink Rats hockey club, are a few more stories from my personal archives, written during the past three and a half years.
Note; This blog was written quite some time ago and has been revised several times. As I never let fact get in the way of a good story, there may be differences in the copy from what you read earlier in the week. Writers do this kind of thing.
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The Herald Gazette Rink Rats and Bracebridge Blades and a 1980's circa Santa Claus Parade.
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BRACEBRIDGE AND THE CHRISTMAS SPIRITS - THE SANTA CLAUS PARADE - THE RINK RATS HOCKEY TEAM OF ONCE, LONG AGO
IN SUPPORT OF THE BRACEBRIDGE BLADES PRECISION SKATING TEAM
ONE QUIET AFTERNOON, PROBABLY ON A SNOWY THURSDAY JUST LIKE TODAY, BACK IN THE LATE FALL OF 1981, THREE HERALD-GAZETTE, AND TWO MUSKOKA GRAPHICS EMPLOYEES, GOT TOGETHER AT THE COFFEE URN, MIDWAY BETWEEN THE PRINTING COMPONENT OF MUSKOKA PUBLICATIONS, AND THE NEWSPAPER OFFICES......AND AFTER COMPARING REASONS WE HATED OUR JOBS, STARTED TALKING ABOUT "SAY LADS, WE SHOULD START UP A HOCKEY TEAM."
I WAS ONE OF THE STAFFERS, BRANT SCOTT, AND HAROLD WRIGHT, THE OTHERS, FROM THE NEWSPAPER SIDE, AND THERE WAS JIM WRIGHT AND HARRY RANGER FROM THE PRINT DEPARTMENT. HARRY, BY THE WAY, PASSED AWAY THIS YEAR. HE WOULD BECOME OUR FIRST GOALTENDER, ON THE FLEDGLING "HERALD-GAZETTE RINK RATS." BRANT, A REPORTER AND RESPECTED COLUMNIST, AUTHOR OF "A WEE BISCUIT," RAN WITH THE IDEA, AND SOON HAD CONVINCED PARKS AND RECREATION MANAGER, TOM ROBINSON, TO AFFORD US SOME LEFTOVER ICE TIME AT THE COMMUNITY CENTRE. I THINK WE STARTED OFF THAT SEASON, PAYING TWENTY-FIVE TO THIRTY BUCKS AN HOUR. THE HITCH? OUR ICE TIME BEGAN AT 11:00 P.M. AND ENDED AT MIDNIGHT. IT WAS AN AWFUL TIME TO PLAY SHINNY, BUT THE RINK RATS BECAME A SORT OF FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION WITHOUT US EVER INTENDING TO CREATE MORE THAN A "NO FRILLS" OUTLET, FOR FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES OF OUR NEWSPAPER. I SHOULD NOTE, BEFORE I GO ANY FURTHER, THAT, THANKS TO FOLKS LIKE GORD DAWES, THE RINK RATS ARE STILL ICING A TEAM EVERY YEAR, AND DOING THE SAME KIND OF FUNDRAISING WORK AS WE COMMENCED BACK IN THOSE FIRST FEW YEARS. THE ONLY THING DIFFERENT, OTHER THAN A FULL TRANSITION OF PLAYERS, IS THAT "THE HERALD-GAZETTE" HAS BEEN DROPPED FROM THE TEAM NAME. THE PAPER ISN'T PUBLISHED ANY MORE, AND THE LETTERS FROM OUR OLD OFFICE BUILDING, THAT SPELLED IT OUT, ARE NOW IN A CARDBOARD BOX TUCKED IN MY SHED.
BRANT AND I BOTH USED OUR NEWSPAPER COLUMNS TO RUSTLE-UP SUPPORT FOR OUR NEW HOCKEY CLUB, AND HE WAS ABLE TO WEASLE SOME COMPANY MONEY, TO RUN A CHARITY GAME AT THE ARENA, BETWEEN US AND THE CKVR NO-STARS; AS A SORT OF PUBLIC LAUNCH OF A MEDIA "SPECTACLE" TEAM IN BRACEBRIDGE. THE CAMERAS LOVED US BABY. OUR CAMERAS. BRANT WAS ABLE TO ORCHESTRATE MASSIVE PUBLICITY, WHEN WE DID EVENTUALLY TAKE ON THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA, AND HE WAS SO THOROUGH, HE WAS ABLE TO CONVINCE TORONTO SUN COLUMNIST, PAUL RIMSTEAD, A FORMER BRACEBRIDGE KID, TO COME NORTH FOR THE GAME AS THE CELEBRITY ANNOUNCER. RIMSTEAD WAS JUST LAUNCHING A NEW BOOK, AND BRANT HAD DONE SOME PROMOTION OF IT IN HIS COLUMN. GLORY BE, RIMMER AGREED, AND IT WAS HIS PRESENCE AT THE GAME, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, THAT FILLED THE BRACEBRIDGE ARENA TO OVER 1,700 FANS. IT SURE AS HECK WASN'T THE DRAW OF THE RINK RATS OR THE NO-STARS. WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DRAW THREE OR FOUR HUNDRED INCLUDING FAMILY MEMBERS. HOMETOWNERS WANTED TO SEE THE KID WHO USED TO CHASE FIRE TRUCKS, AS A STRINGER FOR THE ORILLIA PACKET AND TIMES. THE KID WHO USED TO HANG AROUND JOE'S BILLIARDS, ON MANITOBA STREET, WITH SOON-TO-BE HOCKEY ALL-STAR ROGER CROZIER. RIMMER AND HIS PARTNER, MISS HINKY, WERE THE STAR ATTRACTION. IT WAS GOOD TO SEE, THAT FOLKS IN BRACEBRIDGE WANTED TO SHOW THEIR RESPECT, AND PRIDE, FOR HOW PAUL HAD MADE IT TO THE BIG LEAGUES OF NEWSPAPERS, LIKE THE TORONTO SUN, AND SISTER PUBLICATIONS IN EDMONTON AND CALGARY. COMPLETE WITH STETSON, PAUL RIMSTEAD WITHOUT KNOWING IT, LAUNCHED A RECREATIONAL HOCKEY TEAM THAT HAS LASTED ALL THESE YEARS.....BASED ON GOODWILL AND BENEVOLENCE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY. IN FACT, THE RECREATIONAL FUNDRAISER, "THE LOVEABLE LOSERS TOURNAMENT," HELD EACH MARCH, WAS THE RESULT OF THE WORK OF THAT SAME GROUP OF NEWSIES AND FRIENDS. I EVEN CAME UP WITH THE TITLE. BACK THEN, ED KOWALSKY, WAS THE MOVER AND SHAKER, AND KEPT IT UP FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS, UNTIL EXHAUSTION AND BROKEN BODIES CAME INTO PLAY.
THIS ISN'T GOING TO BE A FORMAL HISTORY OF THE RINK RATS. MAYBE ONE DAY. WHAT INSPIRED ME THIS CHRISTMAS, WAS THE FACT I ACCIDENTALLY, FOUND TWO OLD PHOTOGRAPHS, WHEN RIMSTEAD'S BOOK, "COCKTAILS AND JOCKSTRAPS," FELL BEHIND MY DESK.....AND WHEN I BENT OVER TO PICK IT UP, NOTICED MY RINK RAT KEEPSAKES HAD BEEN DISLODGE. THEY HAD BEEN IN THAT BOOK SINCE AROUND THE TIME OF THE BENEFIT GAME. THESE ARE PUBLISHED ABOVE, AND WERE TAKEN SOMETIME, IN EITHER 1982 OR 1983, DURING A SANTA CLAUS PARADE THROUGH DOWNTOWN BRACEBRIDGE. THE PHOTOGRAPHER WAS HAROLD WRIGHT, FROM THE HERALD-GAZETTE PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT. WE WERE PROBABLY PROMOTING THE CKVR BENEFIT GAME, BECAUSE I'M UP ON THE TRUCK WEARING MY OWN STETSON, RIMSTEAD STYLE, AND THE GIRLS IN SKATING COSTUMES, WERE REPRESENTING THE BRACEBRIDGE BLADES PRECISION SKATING TEAM, THAT WOULD BE THE RECIPIENT OF FUNDS RAISED. THE CHAP WITH A STICK, HELD UP TO HIS CHIN, FURTHER BACK IN THE PHOTOGRAPH, IS THE BLADES COACH, HAROLD SHER, WHO WAS ALSO ONE OF THE ALL STAR RINK RATS. WE ONLY HAD TWO ALL STARS. HAROLD WAS ONE. MIKE HILLBORN, THE OTHER. BOTH COULD RAG THE PUCK FOR A HALF HOUR, TO LET US GET OUR BREATH BACK. THE REST OF US WERE JUST HAPPY, TO STILL BE ABLE TO SKATE UP AND DOWN THE ICE A COUPLE OF TIMES EACH GAME.
IN THE PHOTOGRAPH, ARE A FEW OF THE RINK RATS OF THE DAY, CIRCA 1982. THEY INCLUDED, BRANT SCOTT, READY FOR THE FACE-OFF, JIM WRIGHT, CHARLIE TRYON (ON THE VEHICLE), ALISTAIR TAYLOR, DRIVING THE TRUCK, ED KOWALSKY, HAROLD SHER, ME ON THE FLOAT WITH HARRY RANGER, TUCKED INTO THE EVERGREENS. THOSE LADS ON GROUND LEVEL, PLAYED SHINNY ALONG THE ENTIRE PARADE ROUTE, SOUTH ON MANITOBA STREET, AND WERE THEY EVER EXHAUSTED BY TIME WE LANDED BACK AT THE ARENA. ALISTAIR, HARRY AND I, WERE IN GOOD SHAPE. THE OTHER PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE TOP OF A BUILDING WAS ALSO TAKEN BY HAROLD, BUT I'M NOT SURE NOW WHERE THAT LOCATION WAS EXACTLY. WE ALL HAD A GOOD TIME THAT AFTERNOON, AND THE BLADES SKATERS WERE ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP US OUT......AND OFTEN PUT ON PERFORMANCES DURING THE INTERMISSIONS OF OUR BENEFIT HOCKEY GAMES. BY THE WAY, I HAVE A CERTIFICATE THAT AFFORDS ME "HONORARY FLYING FATHER" STATUS, AFTER A BENEFIT GAME WITH THOSE FINE CHAPS, SEVERAL YEARS AFTER THE "NO-STARS," GAME. NOW THAT WAS A GAME OF HOLY HOCKEY IF EVER THERE WAS ONE.
I'M TRULY SORRY I NEVER KEPT A COMPLETE LIST OF RINK RATS IN THOSE EARLY YEARS. SOME PLAYED FOR A SEASON OR TWO, WHILE OTHERS LASTED THROUGH MOST OF A DECADE. I RETIRED FROM THE RINK RATS IN THE EARLY 1990'S, AFTER WE MOVED TO GRAVENHURST. IT WAS ONE THING TO WALK TWO BLOCKS TO THE BRACEBRIDGE ARENA, FROM MY OLD APARTMENT IN THE MCGIBBON HOUSE, ON MANITOBA STREET, BUT QUITE ANOTHER TO DRIVE IN ALL KINDS OF WEATHER FROM GRAVENHURST FOR THOSE LATE NIGHT GAMES. I SAT OUT FOR A FEWS YEARS, AND MADE A ONE GAME COME-BACK, WHEN GORD DAWES SUGGESTED THERE WAS A SPOT TO FILL ON THE BENCH. I KNEW I COULD BE A GOOD BENCH WARMER. WHEN I TRIED TO SKATE, GOSH, IT WAS LIKE THE DAY MY MOTHER FASTENED BOB SKATES ONTO MY WINTER BOOTS, AND SET ME LOOSE ON A STRETCH OF RAMBLE CREEK IN BURLINGTON. AS I ALMOST KILLED MYSELF THAT DAY, I SHORT-SHIFTED MYSELF THAT NIGHT AT THE ARENA, AND WHEN THOSE SKATES CAME OFF....THEY NEVER WENT BACK ON. THEY'RE STILL HANGING OFF THE WALL ON THE VERANDAH, WHERE I LEFT THEM THE MORNING AFTER THAT FINAL GAME.
SOME OF THE KINDLY SOULS, WHO HELPED US FUNDRAISE IN THOSE YEARS.....AND WHO MADE THE RINK RATS A LOT OF FUN TO BE ASSOCIATED, INCLUDED PLAYERS LIKE JON PARTRIDGE, GORD MARTIN, PETER RENNICK, DAVE WHITESIDE, JOHN O'BYRNE, ED KOWALSKY, ALISTAIR TAYLOR, JIM WRIGHT, BRANT SCOTT, GIL SCOTT, DOUG DUNFORD, DAN BARNES, GINO FARRARI, HARRY RANGER, HAROLD WRIGHT, HAROLD SHER, SCOTT MCCLELLAN, JERRY AUCOIN, KEVIN PEAKE, TERRY CURTIS, MIKE GAVIN, DAVE BROWN, AND MIKE HILLBORN. IN THE LATE 1980'S, TO KEEP OUR TEAM AFLOAT, AFTER MANY DEPARTURES DUE TO OLD AGE, WE AMALGAMATED WITH OTHER RECREATIONAL HOCKEYISTS, AND CREATED "THE WOMBATS," WHICH WAS THE TRANSITION POINT, FROM THE OLD GUARD TO THE NEW, BRINGING GORD DAWES, THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE NEW ERA RINK RATS, STILL GOING STRONG. SOME OF THE NAMES FROM THIS TRANSITION PERIOD, OF THE NEW RAT SQUAD, WERE LADS LIKE GERRY MOORE, WAYNE MOORE, ED RENTON, ROBIN SUMMERLY, RON RICKER, NORM LEVESQUE, KIM HAMMOND, PHIL LANGOIS, BARRY SALTER, TIM UREN, DAVE AUGER AND A DOZEN OR SO MORE, THAT HONESTLY HAVE SLIPPED MY MIND. NOT MY HEART. JUST MY CREAKING OLD MEMORY.
WE USED TO ASK THESE SENIOR RECREATIONALISTS, WITH THEIR KNOBBLY KNEES, TO GIVE OF THEMSELVES ON THE ICE, TO KEEP US FROM BEING HUMILIATED ON THE SCOREBOARD, AND WE ASKED EVEN MORE, WHEN WE PUT ON FUNDRAISERS TO HELP COMMUNITY GROUPS. THEY DID SO GENEROUSLY AND ANNUALLY, AND IT'S NEAT TO LOOK BACK ON THE CLUB AND REALIZE HOW MUCH HISTORY HAS ACTUALLY BEEN MADE, BY A SMALL HUDDLE OF MUSKOKA PUBLICATIONS EMPLOYEES, SHIRKING WORK THAT DAY, ABOUT THIRTY-THREE YEARS AGO. WE'D LIKE TO THINK SO ANYWAY.
BACK IN THE EARLY PART OF THE CENTURY, THE MODERN ERA RINK RATS HONORED ED KOWALSKY, HARRY RANGER AND I, AT CENTRE ICE, AT THE START OF THAT YEAR'S LOVEABLE LOSERS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT. NOW THAT WAS A PROUD MOMENT, TO STAND WITH THOSE TWO OLD RATS, AND WE ALL APPRECIATED THE RECOGNITION. WE WERE EACH PRESENTED NEW HOCKEY JERSEYS WITH OUR ORIGINAL RINK RAT LOGO, WHICH BY THE WAY, HAD BEEN DESIGNED FOR US, IN THE EARLY 1980'S, BY A LOCAL ARTIST, CHRIS MINZ, FORMERLY A TALENTED ART STUDENT AT BRACEBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL.
TWO PLAYERS OF THE RINK RATS PASSED AWAY RECENTLY, AND IT WAS QUITE A BLOW TO THE KINSHIP WE'D ALWAYS HAD ON THE TEAM. KIM HAMMOND WAS THE FIRST TO PASS AWAY, SEVERAL YEARS AGO, AND JUST RECENTLY, IT WAS HARRY RANGER, BOTH KIND SOULS WHO BROUGHT GOOD HUMOUR TO THE CLUB, AND TO ANY EVENT WE PARTICIPATED. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.
I LOVED THOSE YEARS. I LOVED THOSE GUYS. I LOVED THE ADVENTURE....THE "AWAY" GAMES, AND THE WAY WE WORKED SO WELL TOGETHER......NOT SO MUCH ON THE ICE, BECAUSE WE SUCKED, BUT IN, AND FOR THE COMMUNITY. BACK THEN, WE RAISED A LOT OF MONEY TO HELP THE BLADES PRECISION SKATING TEAM, AND WE PUT A FAIR BIT OF CASH INTO THE PURCHASE OF A NEW ICE-RESURFACING MACHINE FOR THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE. I KNOW THAT SLEDGE HOCKEY GOT A LOT OF SUPPORT FROM THE LATTER DAY RATS, AMONGST MANY OTHER WORTHWHILE COMMUNITY PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES.
MERRY CHRISTMAS RINK RATS. I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU GUYS.
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