With the threat of rain lingering in the air, the inaugural Birthplace of Hockey Long Pond Heritage Classic was forced to get underway early Feb. 11.
Despite the time change, dozens of participants eagerly laced up their skates and prepared for a friendly battle on the ice at the historic site.
Six teams, 72 participants, a sold-out gala dinner and countless volunteers helped make the day a successful fundraiser for the Windsor Hockey Heritage Society.
Several big names took part in the event, including former NHL All-Star Syl Apps Jr., former Boston Bruin Terry O'Reilly, former Czech NHLer Jaro Sevcik and David Andrews, the president and CEO of the American Hockey League.
O'Reilly, whose professional career saw 204 goals, 402 assists for 606 points, and 2,095 minutes in penalties, said he was more than happy to participate with the Bruins alumni team.
Following the Bruins alumni's first game — and first victory — at the outdoor venue, O'Reilly, who was the only one skating without a helmet on, said it was invigorating playing outdoors.
“It brings back a lot of memories. I grew up skating on outdoor ice with my brothers — five boys. We'd leave the house in the morning and wouldn't come home until it was dark, (until) we couldn't see the puck anymore,” recalled O'Reilly.
While many children these days don't spend much time outdoors playing hockey, O'Reilly said events like the one at Long Pond may help reignite the interest.
“I think with events like this, it'll bring it back. I think there's nothing like skating outdoors,” he said.
Playing for fun was the highlight of the day for the former Bruins right winger.
“Everybody is in such a good frame of mind. It's not do-or-die hockey where you have to win at all costs. We're here to have fun. There's good sportsmanship,” he said.
The game format was simple: four-on-four with no goalies and no real score kept.
How it all started
The idea behind the successful venture came from local Home Hardware owner Jeff Redden and Home Hardware's gardening guru Mark Cullen.
The Ontario green thumb had read a news story on the financial troubles the Windsor Hockey Heritage Museum faced and sent Redden an email inquiring about how he could help. That got the ball rolling. Although Cullen said he initially was thinking of doing “a gardening event,” the suggestion soon turned into much more.
After hearing what they had planned, Cullen suggested they charge people for the privilege to play on Long Pond.
“I would pay to play on Long Pond because of the historic significance of this — just for the bragging rights.”
Cullen, who was responsible for recruiting Syl Apps Jr. to participate, credited the local Long Pond Heritage Classic committee for putting in so many hours and hosting such a successful event.
“It didn't take much arm-twisting to get Syl involved,” Cullen said, noting a long relationship with the Apps family.
Although Cullen is best known as a gardening expert and doesn't play hockey, he admits to being a huge fan of the sport.
“Living as I do a half hour north of Toronto... I get in to see the Toronto Maple Leafs play about once a month. I love it. I've always loved hockey,” Cullen said. “I think I'm just a typical Canadian that way; no different than millions of other people who just tune into Hockey Night in Canada.”
While in town, Cullen also held a fundraiser the night before the big event at Mermaid Theatre to support West Hants Middle School band students.
Cullen said a lot of people may be surprised to learn that he loves hockey, and joked around about why a gardener would be interested in such a sport.
“Maybe part of the answer is a gardener has to do something in the winter months, right?” he said, with a laugh.
“Sometimes in August, I'll be working in the garden at 9:30 at night and I'll be thinking 'you know, I could really enjoy just sitting down and watching a hockey game right now' and I'm out there sweating in the garden. As much as I love it, I always enjoy it when the hockey season rolls around.”
For the love of the game
The Windsor event was one of several participating in Hockey Day in Canada celebrations happening across the country.
As such, there was a lot of media attention on the game, on the fundraiser, and on the interesting people living in, or visiting, Hants County.
Windsor resident Creelman MacArthur was interviewed by a film crew about what it was like to attend the 1972 Summit Series. MacArthur, originally from Prince Edward Island, moved to Windsor 10 years ago. He attended the first game in Montreal where Canada lost badly, 7-3.
He was one of the 3,000 fans who boarded planes and travelled to Moscow at the height of the Cold War to watch the final four games in the series.
“It seems like a long time ago — 40 years ago this coming fall,” said MacArthur in an interview with the Journal.
He was in the stands for Game 8, surrounded by screaming fans, when Paul Henderson's goal for Team Canada marked the Canadians' victory over the Soviet team.
“It was a milestone in Canadian history. Events like this don't come along everyday,” said MacArthur. “It was a monumental series. It brought together the country.”
When asked if he thought there would ever be another series quite like the 1972 Summit Series, MacArthur said it wasn't likely.
“I don't think so because with international hockey now, Russians are playing in the NHL and we have North American players playing in the European league,” said MacArthur.
“It brings back a lot of memories. I grew up skating on outdoor ice with my brothers — five boys. We'd leave the house in the morning and wouldn't come home until it was dark, (until) we couldn't see the puck anymore.” - Terry O'Reilly
“I don't think that it would have the same impact now. But, if China ever became a powerhouse in hockey, that would be a summit series in North America.”
Jim Prime, the co-author of How Hockey Explains Canada with Paul Henderson, travelled from the Valley to witness the Long Pond festivities as well as be interviewed by the same film crew that was interested in MacArthur.
While it was Prime's first time at Long Pond, he said he believes it is the cradle of hockey.
“It's a real honour (to be invited here) because in one chapter of my book, we talk about the origins of hockey and as far as I'm concerned, it started right here,” he said.
“The prime minister, who did the forward (in the book), says it is Montreal. He was great to do the interview with me but I vehemently disagree with him on that subject,” Prime added, noting many NHL influentials agree the birthplace is in Windsor.
Although Prime said it's unlikely there will ever be definitive proof of hockey's birthplace, he said it's crucial we continue to promote the sport.
“It could've happened in some Scandinavian country or the northern part of Russia — the Soviet Union — or any place,” he said.
“It's fun to talk about and I think we have as good a case for the organized game as anybody right here in Windsor. The writings of Thomas Chandler Haliburton are written evidence that something like that was being played on Long Pond in the early 1800s.”
As well, James Creighton — the man who codified the rules while living in Montreal — was originally from Halifax, Prime said.
The author, who lives in New Minas but hails from Freeport, near Digby, said Windsor is lucky to have a museum celebrating the national pastime, as well as so much community support.
“The hours that volunteers put into this is just really commendable. I think it's great to have something like this in a town like Windsor,” he said.
“I think it's wonderful the way it's been embraced by the people of Windsor and all of Nova Scotia. We're very proud that Windsor is the birthplace of hockey.”
It's a sentiment that Cullen also shared.
“(The museum) acknowledges the pedigree of the game that we all enjoy,” said Cullen, adding the importance of continuing to support the efforts to keep the museum open.
“We need to do it as hockey fans. But, I think we really need to do it as Canadians because it arguably is more of a Canadian game than any other country can really claim.”
