A well-earned honour
Hockey Canada recognizes Charlottetown’s Cecil Taylor for his work at three levels
If there’s one thing Charlottetown’s Cecil Taylor has seen during his 40-plus years in Island hockey is a boatload of players.
And so far, not much has changed.
“Personality-wise there’s not a whole lot of difference. The game has changed a huge amount. Players are bigger, fast and stronger, but players are still at that (junior) level . . . young men,” Taylor said. “Society has changed, but not really as a player.”
It’s probably an opinion to consider given Taylor’s winning of Hockey Canada’s Order of Merit award for the Atlantic region at the organization’s recent annual meeting in Regina, Sask.
The award goes to an individual who’s contributed to amateur hockey through numerous years, but Taylor hasn’t kept score and was more than shocked he’d won.
“I was very humbled and very honoured that I was selected for this. It was a complete surprise.”
Taylor’s work with Island and national hockey dates back to the early 1970s when as general manager of the Colonel Gray Colonels (later the Charlottetown Junior Abbies of the Maritime Junior Hockey League) he led the club to six straight provincial junior A championships and five Maritime titles.
From there he moved on to the P.E.I. Hockey Association (now Hockey P.E.I.) as junior director, vice-president and eventually president ending in 1992.
National officials called and Taylor landed with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (now Hockey Canada) in 1991. He served as vicechairman at large and as a board member, junior hockey director (sharing back-to-back gold medals at the world juniors) and director of minor hockey.
When his term ended in 1996, Taylor returned to junior hockey on P.E.I., becoming vice-president of the Maritime Hockey League (MHL), formerly the Maritime Junior A Hockey League, handling league discipline.
He still holds the gig and is most proud of working with junior A leagues in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba on a pilot project to curb fighting and violence.
“It’s a national standard code of discipline with consequences. Penalties you want to get out of the game, checking from behind, hits to the head, those are automatic suspensions. It’s really about player safety.”
He’s also Hockey P.E.I.’s representative on Hockey Canada’s junior task team, which looks at things such as player registration fees.
But the retired teacher still works the grassroots of Island hockey, spending time at the rink, watching his granddaughter and grandson play.
“Sometimes they’re focused on the game and sometimes they’re waving at their parents in the stands,” he said.
He has no plans to leave the game he loves.
“Not at the present time, but life throws curveballs your way so you never know.”
Michael Flaherty of Quebec won the Central Order of Merit award, while Sheldon Kennedy, former NHLer and Memorial Cup and world juniors champ, won the Order of Merit for the Western region.
Steven Sleigh of Ontario, who lived and played hockey in P.E.I. in the 1960s, won the officiating award.
The MHL’s annual meeting and entry draft goes June 7-9 in Berwick, N.S.