If you have your mornings free and $10 in your pocket, an old-timers hockey group that plays together at the Burnaby Winter Club wants you.
For decades, weekday mornings at the BWC had been so well attended by master-aged hockey players that on occasion an overflow had to be sent home.
But in the last few years, numbers for the high-end group, which meets every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, have declined to a point that fielding two lines has become an issue.
“Lots go south and a lot of guys play league at the Great Pacific Forum and on the North Shore,” said Newfoundland native Robin Ross, who now lives in Burnaby.
The over-70 hockey league in Delta has siphoned off some former regulars. Injuries and age are other facts of life that have a bearing on future numbers.
The winter club’s Tuesday and Thursday sessions are experiencing no shortage of players, but the faster group, in particular those that come out on Wednesday, could you use a few more bodies, said Ross, who heard about the BWC after running a Greater Vancouver league out of Burnaby Lake Arena up until 2005.
“I wanted to keep going, but I couldn’t keep up. I talked about starting retiree’s hockey,” said Ross. “I was told to call Lynn (Mason) and I’ve been playing three days a week ever since.”
Mason, inducted as a builder in the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame, started old-timers morning hockey at the winter club in the 1960s.
The group is made up of individuals from all walks of life and largely limited organized hockey backgrounds.
Perhaps surprisingly, few, if any of the players, have a background in junior hockey.
Arny Wise, 69, who once rubbed shoulders with Paul Henderson on an Oakville, Ont. old-timers team, is otherwise typical of the players that regularly turn out for a morning skate.
Originally from Toronto, Wise has a fond recollection of playing pond hockey as a youth.
“We played during recess and after school. We took our skates to school. We didn’t need artificial ice, there wasn’t any,” said Wise, who now calls Vancouver home.
Seventy-eight-year-old John Phillips of Peterborough, Ont. has a similar story.
“I think everyone will agree it’s a lot of fun,” Phillips said, “and the camaraderie is really great.”
Phillips began playing shinny on outdoor ice, but stopped playing in the 1950s, before picking it up again 20 years later after moving to Ottawa.
Barry Anderson, originally from Saskatoon and a relative young ’un at 64, is a converted goalie for the old-timers.
He played hockey in rec leagues most of his life and now is indispensible in goal.
Anderson says, some of the grey-haired shooters still have that old magic with a stick and puck.
“Oh yeah, Lynn Mason is 81 and he can dipsy-doodle. He’ll go forehand/backhand and lift (the puck) over you. He’s like a 65-year-old,” said Anderson.
Another goalie that comes out is a local church pastor. There is an 82-year-old from Bellingham, Washington who has been making the drive north for years. There is also a woman who participates reguarly.
The youngest player is 49 years old and they range in professions from physics professor to posties and come from all over the Lower Mainland to play.
That’s the beauty of the weekday mornings, added Anderson.
“When you get into a hockey rink there are no work distinctions at all,” he said.
“I can see guys 60 to 65, saying ‘They’re not up to it.’ I’d say, ‘They should come down to the rink any day at 10 o’clock and see what it’s like,’” said Ross.
Interested players can get in touch with Ross at 604-420-2624 or email him [email protected].
Individuals can also leave a message at the winter club at 604-299-7788.
