[twitter]I played goalie in minor hockey for about 8 years through my youth. I was pretty good for a few of them, making it as a Rep B goalie for a couple of my pre-teen seasons. My growth spurt came a little later than everyone else and I eventually stopped playing when I started to get too puck shy around 15. I only weighed 115 pounds in Grade 10 (my wrestling weight).

Still, I had some pretty good times in the pipes, winning The Lake Bonavista Hockey Tournament as a member of the Richmond Pee Wee B team in 1981 and 1982 and picking up an MVP for one of the years.

The second tournament win in 1982 even made our local newspaper, The Richmond Review…

It wasn’t easy, Richmond’s Pee Wee B Whites hockey club made the best of their trip to Calgary over the past weekend by capturing the Lake Bonavista tournament.

The local squad was under the gun to produce several times in the 10-team tournament, and the championship game was as tight as any a team will ever be involved in.

Richmond was thrown into action Friday evening in their first of three games before entering the final. Red Deer jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before Richmond stormed back before preserving a 3-3 tie.

Richmond was simply dynamite the next morning as they defeated Willowridge 6-0 with Buzz Bishop posting the shutout….

It’s neat to be back in Calgary, the site of the peak of my hockey playing career some 30 years later and now call it home. I remember climbing over construction in the new communities of the SE when I was billeted out with families during the tournaments. Those houses are now 30 years old and no longer the fringes of the city.

Zacharie started skating this year and, hopefully, when 2018 rolls around, he can take up his Dad’s legacy and lead his team to a title too.