HISTORY OF THE OLD WINGS

HISTORY



The Old Wings have been in existence for close to thirty years. A group playing pick up hockey organized by Bill Tyas, decided to enter a tournament in Erin. We used to get slaughtered every time we entered. One year, Bill brought in a player named Al Barnes. We were excited because Bill had told us what a good player he was. We played our first game in the Erin tournament that year against Eastern Construction. We lost 16-0! After the game, we sat around the dressing room, rejected when all of a sudden, Al spoke up. He started by saying, guys .... with a pause, I suppose to get attention. He probably was going to say something like, keep your heads up guys, you all gave it a good shot or maybe something that "you know that team has played together for years or maybe he was going to say that they were an "A" calibre club and shouldn't have been matched up against them but what he ended up saying was, "guy's .... you are about the worst bunch of players I ever played with. Well, that was our introduction to Al. We later would play against him in a league and he was no longer the player he once was.

We finally decided to join a league. We played in an open division for five years before finally winning the "A" Division. We had an outstanding defense with Mark Gelinas, Al Wilson, Gerry Weber, Les Mullick and Brian Boyd. We assembled a lot of talent in short time, Mike Horner had tremendous speed with an erratic but hard slap shot. We were strong down the middle with crafty Chris Carlton, Stu Lepinsky who would score with a hard shot right along the ice, and Jim Charbonneau who was huge but could skate and stick handle easily through teams. Jim's brother Steve was another scorer. We and a bunch of workers, like Michel, Jean Luc, Chris' brother Randy, Bill and yours truly. We also had Roman Dolnicky in net. Once we won the A Division, it was time for some of us to move onto Old Timers.

It was also the split of the team. The majority of us were over thirty five. We picked up a few replacements to fill the team and joined the Cawthra Old Timers League. Strong additions were Jim Wedgewood, who used to play with us when we played pick up hockey. Jim, an acountant, took over the team's accounting. There isn't a defenseman who stops more shots than Jim. He's agoalie's best friend. Steve Gervais was asked to play and he helped solidify the defense. Later Kim Mountain was picked so with Brian, Mark, Jim, Steve and our captain Brian on defense, the Old Wings were once again a force to play against. On forward, a personal great pick up was Laverne Miller. Laverne and I would not only lead the team in scoring but the whole league that was made up of eight teams. (I can hardly believe today that it happened as today, it's an unique experience to score) The Old Wings would finish in the top two or three for the first few years. Laverne had played for the U of Waterloo. He played right wing with me for nearly all of our years together. Mike Horner began playing for us again once he was of age. We added Dave Sweetland, a natural goal scorer. Dave's forte is working the goal crease. He's a goalie's worst friend. Larry Johnson, who has been our Stan Makita of the Old Wings, Larry has always had the knack of being able to hold the puck and set up the play. Jim Ford was added and could skate like the wind. Jim particularly enjoys dishing out the shots to our goalie especially if they've had a bad game but sometimes it doesn't matter, they can have a good game and he'll still have something to offer, always in good fun. Calvin Snow was another great pick up. Calvin played AAA hockey, played in the Quebec City Pee Wee Tournament. A 3:12 Marathoner and Iron Man. Later additions were Barry Elliot, Barry was a teacher for the deaf at EC Drury and he brought in Dave Norton, who had played in Europe and coached Jr. hockey. Donnny Simpson and Bill Millar also played for us in the early years of the Old Wings. We were fortunate to also add one of the best old timer goalies around, Jim's cousin, Gary Wedegewood joined us. There are times when tough decisions need to be made and telling Roman he was no longer needed was difficult. It was the right decision and Gary has always given us the confidence to win. We've played in tournaments and won scoring only five goals in four games. We did well in the Cawthra League but teams were constantly picking up younger players and although we held our own, it was starting to become too agressive. We lost Rick Depalsemaker when he was taken down in a corner. The opposing player got a penalty but Rick broke his leg and never returned to the Old Wings.
We decided to move over to another league that was supposed to be 50 and over.
The league at Erin Mills seemed to make exceptions for every team to allow under age players except when it came to the Old Wings. The Old Wings took the place of the O' Mustangs who just couldn't get enough players out. We added John Hillier and Neil McDonald. These two fellows played some outstanding hockey in their youth. (at least that is what they keep telling us) They both later played for A calibre old timer clubs. Regardless,, both have been great additions.
The league must have thought they had to make sure we knew who was running this league and in our first or second game, player after player were sent off for non call penalties. The frustration hit a boiling point and Dave and Mike were thrown out.
We played a couple of seasons and then moved on to another Old Timer's league in Mississauga. A lot of us also used to play slow pitch but shoulders blew and hockey seem easier on the body so we also played summer hockey. We were familiar with Leo's league so it was an easy move. The league was slightly younger but there was a lot less politics. Scott Bullock was added, he became a much needed scorer, great hands, shot and speed, he played for the U of T for Mike Keenan and Tom Watt. Scott had been playing summer hockey for us and it was good to have him play in the winter as well. Steve Dixon joined us and is the Wings most talented defenseman. Steve had played his major junior hockey in Sault St Marie. Steve provides the Wings with size and more scoring. Rob Askin was added. We used to play against Robb when he played for the Port Credit O'Timers. He always had smooth hands and could score. Derek Sangina played for us in the summer initially and then began playing for us in the winter. Derek, Dave and Larry have become our most productive and reliable line.
In 2007 08, we tried another league in Brampton. The league is 50 and over but we soon learned that it's another political run league with self interests. Many of the teams have a player or a few under 50. We kept the Old Wings in Leo's league and Players were added for the younger team, although most of the team played for both teams.
The 50 and over team couldn't win a game but by Christmas, we turned things around and went undefeated for eight games. We climbed out of last place. We played well enough to play in the Consolation Final. The younger squad with more talented players couldn't make the top four of nine teams. It's hard to understand sometimes. The team has added Tony Dombroski, a late cut from the Edmonton Oilers and a much needed scorer. Tony's claim to fame was his coach telling to fight Semenko. Jason Pines, a quick skater and in your face centerman. Jason played AAA. He brought in Paul Rodriques, a welcomed and skilled defenceman.
All teams are only as good as their goalie but this isn't any more so than in the case of the Old Wings. We're very fortunate to have two great goalies. Glen Mclay is agile, strong athelic, a sub 3:00 hour marathoner.
Players to have been given the infamous e-mail was Al S. He wanted to play once a week but we were playing up to nine tournaments a year plus traveling. He wasn't a good fit.
Wil C, my next door neighbour. I kept hearing how he was bad mouthing me to other guys on the team. He didn't work our tournament very well so one day, I walked next door and told him we no longer needed him.
Mike S. insisted in smoking in the dressing room. I asked him to put out his cigarette. He made a comment about no one else had a problem with it and questioned why I ook this on as the team rep, basically saying the Wings didn't need me. Mark told him, whatever Ian says on this team - goes. Well with that, Mike was gone.
There was one other player whose name escapes me but he was centering two guys and yelled at me on the bench about playing him on the helicopter line. So we solved his problem of playing on his own. I saw him at a ballpark, walked over to him and told him he wasn't a good fit for our team.

The ultimate goal is stay healthy so we can maintain the friendships, get a little exercise and enjoy a few laughs with people we want to be with, well into our 70's and maybe beyond.