The Boston Bruins recently defeated the Vancouver Canucks for professional ice hockey supremacy and the right to hoist the Stanley Cup in 2011. But the sport and fans blemished themselves with a riot and the 'roller derby' style of play. It prompted one letter writer (Times Colonist, Wednesday, June 22/2011, p. A13) to complain that "the final playoff series was a disgusting display of dirty hockey and the officials seemed content to let most games deteriorate to...numerous cheap shots."
It is important to remember that there are other ice hockey goals and values to play by. Many still play for the love of the game and for some amateur, senior, recreational hockey players a different hockey grail beckons. One is the Playmakers' Tournament, held annually in Victoria, B.C. just as regular 'rec' seasons are ending. At the 22nd tourney held April 4-9, over forty teams gathered, approximately 700 players over 55 years old. Thirty-four of them were over 80 on two teams; and for the first time, there was one forward line comprised of 90 year olds.
Not the warrior heroes of the NHL, these guys are well past their prime and skate with no aspect of scouts, and only a few fans in the stands, watching their play. Instead they play for F.U.N.
F. Stands for Fortitude and a Little Finesse
Bert Brown plays with the Alberta Rednecks, a 75+-years-old team. He said he started playing in Calgary in 1990 when there were only 10 old guys who started a team. Now there are 485 over 55 years old of whom 120 are over 70 in age. That means 25% of their old-timer recreational players are septuagenarians. This is incredible longevity and endurance, both aspects of fortitude.
Teams show up annually from as far as Manitoba. There were:
- 22 teams from B.C.; ten from Vancouver Island, two from the BC mainland and ten more from Victoria
- twelve from Alberta and two from Manitoba and Saskatchewan
- one from California
- and five more generic, non-geo-political names like Grumpy Old Men
There had even been a team from Japan for the last 15 years but the tsunami forced the withdrawal of their participation this year .
Fortitude also means playing through pain. Don Shorting, aged 75, has been volunteering at the tournament since getting a pacemaker which forced him to stop playing goalie when he was 60. Any casual observer in any change room will see players putting on knee braces and applying liniment as they ask their bodies to try some hockey skills again.
Harry Barnes of Victoria is the convenor for approximately 100 guys who have been playing together for five years, some as often as four times a week. Harry also has entered a team, the Bear Mountain Bruins, with the Playmakers since 1990 and was part of the organizing group when it drew 18 teams then. Harry has been buffeted by many injuries in his hockey life and also knows the long-suffering pain of backing a team that hadn't won the Stanley Cup since 1972. Will he use a delicate finesse with his non-Boston colleagues? Well, fortitude and finesse have limits.
U. Stands for Undying Love of the Game
There can be no doubt that these guys have a passion for the game but not to the degree of violent competition. In fact Doug Shorting, treasurer for the tournament said the name 'Playmaker' was chosen to represent fun and friendship. "We wanted to give more emphasis to the guys who made passes and set up goals, not the goal scorers themselves. There is no trophy and no individual records or stats are kept. It's all for the love of the game."
There are no fights and no scrums either. The rules state there is competition or we wouldn't be playing the game but the spirit and intent of the tournament is fun. Therefore the rules state that "This notice is to remind you that body contact is not permitted in old timers hockey. Therefore we have asked the referees to call all incidents where body contact causes or could cause injury to a player." Furthermore if a player gets three penalties in one game he will be ejected.
The game is the essence; not the NHL permutations.
N. Stands for Nuance, the Intangibles of the Game
There are many intangibles in this tournament. City hotels offer discount rates to facilitate participation. The tournament also sponsors two charities, the Victoria Hospice and the Prostate Centre. There was also a relief jar for the Japan Tsunami Recovery.
Renewed friendship and camaraderie are key elements too. Two players for the Red Deer Silver Selects, Al Ladd and Terry Coal, played Juvenile 'A' over 25 years ago and found themselves on the same line in the tournament.
A unique facet is the induction of the Hockey Knights in Canada. It embodies what the old-timers are all about. A Town Crier calls up the ones over 80 (there were 12 in 2011) as Knights Exemplar; and for those over 70, (nineteen this year), one can almost hear Foster Hewitt intoning, "Welcome to the Hockey Knights in Canada." They join a hockey rite of passage which began in 1994.
Some may decry the NHL and Stanley Cup tournament as a gladiator sport or being on a path to self-destruction; but old-timer recreational hockey is on a roll, not a roller derby.
James Ellsworth - Now I am a Feature Writer for Suite 101 where I have almsot 60 articles. Also I am contributing regularly to Senior Living magazine.
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