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It all started at an early age in the 1920's on the road next to our house in Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan. We played ball variety. In the winter, horses pulling heavy grain sleighs, provided the inexpensive, frozen pucks. Sticks, which cost twenty-five cents each, were carefully repaired with tacks and haywire. Roughly ten thousand hours later, and having graduated from bob-skates to the real blades, I was exceptionally fortunate to find myself at a boys' private school in Winnipeg where hockey was king.
I moved through flyweight, midget, juvenile to junior ranks and was a member of the University of Manitoba junior team, winning the provincial title in 1933. McGill University followed and for four years I played in the tough Quebec senior group and also college hockey, winning four international intercollegiate championships.
In 1937, I received offers to play professional hockey for Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings.
In those days, pro-hockey salaries were small and players were treated like chattels. Amateur hockey was a preferred sport as it could be combined with a chosen vocation.
Upon graduation, I moved to Kirkland Lake and joined the Lakeshore Blue Devils hockey club and we won the Northern Ontario championship in 1938.
Back in Montreal, I joined the Lachine Rapids and won the Quebec Provincial title in 1939. The war started and in 1940 played briefly with Brighton Tigers in England but the Navy transferred me to Egypt and the only ice available was in the Martinis.
In 1942, while back in Canada, I played with Cornwallis Navy and won the Senior Eastern championship before transferring to Gaspe for service in the Gulf of St. Lawrence till VE day.
Hockey ended for me in 1946 with Canadair Hockey Club in the Montreal Commercial league. There are great memories from associations with numerous hockey players, many of whom ended in NHL uniforms following their amateur days.