Loving the game
Eastern Kings Winter Games Classic hockey event shows what sport is all about
The final score was less important than the time together as men recently converged at the Eastern Kings Sportsplex to play hockey.
The camaraderie was on full display as the teams mingled with each other during the break in between the two halves of the Eastern Kings Winter Games Classic hockey event.
“It’s good,” Souris native Shane MacClure said. “Forty years ago, you’d probably be whacking and hacking each other, but now you see each other once or twice a year and you have kind of a connection. It’s good to be in a little different situation, playing for fun.”
The laughs were many on – and off – the ice. The Kings County Oldtimers and the Queens County Oldtimers went upstairs after the two-period game for lunch and, as MacClure described it, with a laugh, to share some “old stories and lies.”
He had played with some of his teammates before, but these weren’t stacked teams with guys coming together for regular practices and doing drills in order to win a year-end tournament. These are guys who still love the game and enjoy spending time together. They show up when they can and make lines on the fly.
It reminded MacClure a bit of how many of the players likely started playing the game, on a frozen pond with their buddies.
“I think of the old throw-thesticks-in-the-middle type of game,” he said.
MacClure said it was easy to find chemistry with his teammates.
“I think hockey players do that all the time,” he said. “You just go in the dressing room, you don’t even know the names, but you go out and go to the position and fire the puck at the same colour sweater.”
MacClure retired a couple of years ago and received a call from Frank McNally to see if he was interested in taking part in some of the 55+ events. He said McNally and the other organizers deserve a lot of credit for the undertaking, which gives others in the community an opportunity to get out, socialize and be active.
“It makes it fun for the rest of us.”
The game was tied 1-1 at the half, and Kings County won 4-3.
“I think we just got a little bit luckier around the net,” MacClure explained.
Many of the players will be competing at the 55+ Provincial Games, which are being hosted by Stratford.
The 55+ division hockey games will be playing in Belfast while the 60+, 65+ and 70+ divisions will be in Pownal, Feb. 26-28.