We all come from somewhere

I got to spend some time with relatives in Yorkton, Saskatchewan on my recent week’s vacation. It got me thinking that it doesn’t matter where in this country you travel; every community has a fabric, and people that help make it unique.

One highlight of the 24 hours or so I spent in Yorkton, a small city of some 17,000 about two hours northeast of Regina, was having the chance to meet a retired NHL player named Metro Prystai.

My uncle by marriage offered me the chance to meet Metro (his name is pronounced ‘Meetro’), who is one of the ‘regulars’ in his morning coffee group. Though we didn’t have long to spend in the city, I decided to take him up on his offer, and I’m glad I did.

A Yorkton native, Metro Prystai wasn’t an NHL superstar, but he was a good enough player to have spent 10 full seasons and part of another in the NHL with Chicago and Detroit, and to be part of Stanley Cup-winning teams in 1952 and 1954.

As a member of the 1952 Red Wings, he was part of possibly the only team in NHL history to go through the entire NHL playoffs undefeated, with eight straight wins.

The record shows that Metro scored 151 regular season goals in 674 games, plus 12 more in 43 playoff games. He reached the 20-goal plateau three times, including a high of 29 goals with Chicago in 1949-1950, and played in three NHL all-star games.

He numbered among his teammates such players as Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Red Kelly and Terry Sawchuk, all Hall of Famers.

As a fan of the ‘Original Six’ era in the NHL, I recognized Metro’s name immediately when I heard it because I had always thought it was interesting and unique.

I was interested to meet him, and impressed by the fact that when his professional career was over, he had chosen to return to Yorkton and make his and his family’s home there.

I thought, here’s a guy who rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest players in hockey history, and he has coffee just about every day with someone I know. That, to me, is one of the many great things about living in small-town Canada.

I’ve had the chance to meet several NHL oldtimers over the years, including Hall of Famers such as Johnny Bower, Jean Beliveau, Norm Ullman and Mike Bossy.

Though these are well-known and often-famous people, they tend, like Metro Prystai, to come from small towns or cities, and none of them have forgotten where they come from.

To me, it’s one thing that separates our sports figures from those in the United States.

Despite their notoriety, I’ve found them to be ‘down to earth’ people, more than willing to sit down over a cup of coffee or some other beverage and ‘chew the fat’.

I got a similar feeling the other night when I attended a lecture at Acadia by CFL commissioner Tom Wright. In the audience was Bruce Beaton, a former CFL all-star and two-time Grey Cup winner, now retired and living with his family in Kentville.

Bruce joked that he had to come and hear Wright speak because the last two times they had met in person, Wright presented him with the Grey Cup.

There was no Grey Cup for Bruce on Tuesday, but I got to thinking. Someone like Bruce – or Metro, or any other retired professional athlete – could live anywhere they choose.

It’s no coincidence to me that many, at least in this country, choose to live in small towns or cities, not to be anonymous or ignored, or to be held up as examples of local heroes either, but simply for the opportunity to be part of the fabric of the community.

There’s something special about small-town Canada, whether it’s Kentville or Yorkton or Port Hood in Cape Breton, where Bruce Beaton grew up.

For Metro Prystai, Yorkton is home, where he was born and where he chose to return when his playing days were done. He told me of being able to bring the Stanley Cup to Yorkton last year as part of Saskatchewan’s year-long centennial celebrations.

It was the first time he had seen the Cup in person in more than 50 years, and I can only imagine the thrill it was for him to ride with it in a centennial parade in his hometown.

Bruce Beaton had a similar opportunity to bring the Grey Cup to Nova Scotia, both to Port Hood and here to Kings County, when he won his first Grey Cup in 2003 and again last year.

For Bruce, who didn’t grow up here but who is an Acadia graduate, Kings County is home now. It’s a place that obviously holds good memories for him, and not just because it’s where his wife is from or where he attended school.

As someone who has traveled a similar path – albeit without the pro sports career – I think I can understand a bit of how they feel.