As with so many households in the town, in the province, and in Canada, we were a hockey one. Whether it was to watch Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night, taking the boys for practice down in the “pit” before school, or taking them to play their games, we were immersed in hockey. As any one who has opened a bag with hockey equipment after a game knows, the house smelled “hockey” every winter.
When the boys, Tom and Todd, were old enough to lace on skates, my husband, Keith, had them on the ice. They both were on the ice at 3 years of age.
With Tom being the elder, every other year he would be in a higher league than Todd. So one year we would go to the same games and practices, then the next year, when they were in different house leagues, it was doubled You can see the picture of Tom’s team above, the Canadians. The write up is from January 25, 1971 when his team played against the Blues.
Todd’s team is the Tadpoles Blue team. The names of the boys in his team are in the Pelham Minor Hockey Association article by Ron Secord from March 13, 1971. You can see also the names of all the boys in the Tadpole and Novice teams along with their coaches and managers.
These boys played hockey, baseball, lacrosse, soccer, and went to school together. Later on it was minibikes and cars. They developed long-lasting friendships from playing together and against each other. Sports teaches kids so much. They learn how to win and lose gracefully, how to be part of a team and cooperate. When I go to MCC and see so many kids playing hockey and skating, it brings back those times for me.
If you have lived in this town for a long time, you will recognize many familiar names in these articles. I hope this brings back fond memories.
Todd Crick remembers
I played hockey with my brother Tom starting at the outdoor rink in the park. I was very excited when they built the “new” arena as there were a lot of challenges playing outside, although I have to say some of my strongest memories of hockey are from my time on the outdoor rink.
The challenge with the outdoor rink started with the unpredictability of the weather, of course. I distinctly remember games at the end of the season where the ice had started to melt around the boards and if you shot a puck toward the boards it would go under the boards in places and you’d have to stop the game and retrieve it. I remember playing in snow, sometimes coming down so hard you could barely see. We’d have to stop and clean the ice from time to time. I have a strong memory of playing in fog one day, which was probably worse than playing in the snow.
I also remember when my dad built a heated enclosure for the parents to watch us kids. Having watched my son play hockey from age 6 through to the end of college, many times in very cold rinks, I can imagine how thankful everyone was for that. And I also remember playing in bitter cold weather. But we were always eager to play.
My brother Tom was a year older and a much better player than me, so we didn’t play together that many times. I normally played house league only. But there were a couple of seasons where I made the travel team and played with Tom. Dad dutifully drove us around to all the little towns in what I now assume was our town’s division— Wainfleet, Smithville, Beamsville, Dunnville (we never played St. Catharines or Welland). My dad always said that Tom had the talent and I had the heart. I’m sure neither of us were very happy with that evaluation.
As for what we’d now call the “old arena,” I was happy to have it as you didn’t have to worry about the weather. It’s weird what you remember but I remember the skate sharpening machine as you entered the rink (I was always fascinated by it). I also remember the machine that sold coffee and instant chicken noodle soup. I loved the soup. And of course, I remember playing all the games and once, when we won some kind of championship, we all sang “We are the Champions” in the locker room.
