Former airline pilot still straps on goalie pads at age 80
Former airline pilot, who suffered heart attack at 43, remains active, watches diet
“I used to be a goaler ... now I play in nets,” Ron Daley says.
But the Dorval resident has no plans to hang up his goalie pads any time soon, even though he turned 80 on Nov. 2.
“Everybody I know who plays hockey loves the game, just like me, and would love to play as long as they can,” Daley said over lunch this week before playing in his weekly Monday afternoon game at the Dorval Arena, where the average age is about 65. “If they let them play on crutches, they’d probably still be playing.
“I can’t see why I would stop,” he added. “Even if people didn’t want me in nets, I could probably go play forward or defence.”
Daley was a defenceman as a kid growing up in Montreal, but when he went to try out for the senior team at D’Arcy McGee High School in Grade 10 they already had plenty of defencemen. The goalie had graduated the previous year and they didn’t have anyone else to go in nets.
“So I said: ‘I’ll go play goal,’” Daley recalled.
He has been playing in goal ever since.
Back in his high school days, the D’Arcy McGee team practised and played home games at the Forum, so Daley often got to watch the Canadiens practice and would keep a close eye on goalie Bill Durnan, who won two Stanley Cups and six Vézina Trophies during his Hall of Fame career. Daley also learned a valuable lesson by watching the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Johnny Bower practise at the Forum. The future Hall of Famer did a drill in which he would stop every shot with his stick, no matter where the puck was headed.
“It’s a tool,” Daley said. “You’ve got to use the stick. So I started practising with the stick. Every part of your body is equipment … your skates, your hands, your gloves, your stick … now even your mask.”
Daley only started wearing a mask during the 1970s after taking a puck to the face while playing for an Air Canada team, breaking a cheek bone in three places. While he always loved hockey, Daley’s dream as a young boy was to become a pilot. That dream was born near the end of the Second World War when fighter planes would fly over the fields near his family’s home on Van Horne Ave. in Côte des Neiges to drop leaflets.
“I thought that has got to be the greatest thing in the world,” Daley recalled. “It certainly made a heck of an impression on me with the sound of the engines.”
Daley did become a pilot, retiring from Air Canada 20 years ago. He couldn’t fly for seven years after suffering a heart attack at age 43, but battled with the Department of Transport to finally get his licence back after proving he had fully recovered following open-heart surgery.
Daley said the heart attack was probably brought on by stress — he was chairman of the Montreal branch of the Canadian Air Line Pilots Association and a liaison with air traffic controllers — along with bad eating habits. He didn’t play hockey for about two years after the heart attack and his road to recovery included walking about 15 miles every day.
“I could say I went from an A to a B personality, but I didn’t quite do that,” Daley said. “I tried to slow down.”
But Daley remains active. He no longer walks outside during the winter for fear of falling on icy sidewalks, instead following an indoor video fitness program at home. He still walks a lot in the summer and plays golf three times a week with Anne, his wife of 57 years.
“My wife and I do a lot of stuff together,” said Daley, who grew up on the same street as Anne and began dating her in high school.
Daley was asked if he has any advice for other old-timers who never want to hang up their skates.
“It’s just luck … the good Lord has to look after you,” he said. “I’ve broken ankles, legs, nose, but never arms, lots of stitches and all that stuff. But the injuries never had any lasting effect. I’ve had open-heart surgery and fortunately nothing has ever slowed me down. I don’t have any aches or pains … obviously just slower and weaker as I get older.
“There’s no secret to it,” Daley added. “I watch my diet, I do a bit of exercise and all that. But a lot of guys do that. I’ve just been lucky.”
He’s still a goaler.
I can’t see why I would stop. Even if people didn’t want me in nets, I could probably go play forward or defence.