A while back the Timmins Sports Heritage Hall of Fame posted this hockey picture and I started getting phone calls, emails, etc.
A lot of inquiries were about how could a team that has such an excellent sponsor not have crests on their jerseys? After a while, it was a subject of conversation many, many times among people of my age. When I started telling people the backstory of the jerseys a lot of people thought it would be a cool story to tell in a column.
So here it goes. This is how myself and some teammates remember the story.
Hockey players are a particularly superstitious bunch. That season we were a third-place club. One day we were shown our new jerseys and someone asked if we could wear them in our next game. You know, just try them out. We only had a handful of games left before playoffs and something happened the first time we wore the jerseys. We beat a team we had struggled against quite easily.
So after the game, team staff was collecting the jerseys to have the cresting applied when we the superstitious lot stated, “You don't mess with a streak” type deal. So the unfinished jerseys stayed and the result was a first-ever league championship for the Kinsmen.
The next season when we returned, we had our new jerseys fully adorned with new cresting ready to go.
That is the way some of us remember it. We could have gotten new sweaters near the season's end and there was no time to put the cresting on. But the idea of the “winning streak” jerseys seems to be the most common response.
The next season we would return to the league championship but come up short in game seven.
For me, those two seasons are the most memorable. It was a terrific group of guys who made it a pure joy to come to the rink.
After 10 games, Rock alum Derek Seguin finds himself in a familiar spot. Leading the team in scoring.
Seguin has 16 points in 10 games (10G 6A) for Heerenveen Flyers in the Netherlands second division. Derek should be home for a bit at Christmas.
Just imagine what the NHL might be like if they had the same collective bargaining agreement as MLB. Deferred contracts for guys like McDavid or Makar could open up current cap room to add the pieces to be annual Cup contenders and escape being stifled by an archaic cap system.
After a column I wrote a few months back about the Father Les statue being broken, many readers responded by offering help. And we thank you ever so much for that.
RELATED: Father Les statue broke, group looking to repair valued piece
Through the kindness and generosity of others, there will be an upcoming get-together where a resolution to the problem will be unveiled before the media and public, featuring those responsible for the good news story as special guests.
Like a lot of you, I watched and read a lot about a proposed new recreation centre for Timmins. One thing I hope is part of the equation is an Olympic-sized ice surface as part of the proposed two-pad plan. If the proposed new facility is truly forward-thinking, then an Olympic-sized pad needs to be included. A number of communities that have built new rinks (like Sudbury) in recent years have added the bigger ice surface. Once you put the rinks in it is too late to add the bigger surface. It needs to be put in during the initial construction.
Late skater.
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