A memorial to a mentor
Bronze memorial to Dick Power located inside new community centre in Harbour Grace
Stanley Cup champion Danny Cleary felt there was a need for a tangible memorial to his mentor Dick Power. As a result, he has donated a plaque in Power’s memory to hang inside the new community centre in Harbour Grace.
The name of Dick Power is well known throughout Harbour Grace, and it’s one that won’t soon be forgotten thanks to a plaque recently erected at the Danny Cleary Harbour Grace Community Centre, the town’s new stadium.
Power, who was highly respected as a member of the community and within local and provincial hockey circles, died in July of 2016 at the age of 75.
He spent nearly four decades working as the manager of the community centre’s predecessor — S.W. Moores Memorial Stadium — and as a minor hockey coach. One of his former players is the man for whom the community centre is named, Harbour Grace native and Stanley Cup champion Danny Cleary, who felt strongly that a memor- ial to his former minor hockey coach was required.
Cleary got the idea from similar plaques at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
“I saw these bronze plaques at the Joe dedicated to legends like Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay,” the long-time Detroit Red Wing told The Compass. “I said, ‘Dick Power needs one. ‘ He’s a legend too.”
From there, Cleary contacted a plaque-making firm and worked with them in conjunction with Libby Power, one of Dick’s daughters, to make sure the end result was as perfect as it could be. The wording on the plaque was written by Cleary himself, with help from Ged Blackmore, a lifelong friend of Power’s.
“The plaque is there at the community centre as a reminder to everyone who passes through those doors. I wanted to remember Dick because he was like a second father to me,” said Cleary. “Words can’t explain what that man did for my career.”
Before he was a coach, Power was a star player, starting as a junior club in Bell Island, his hometown. Power went on to play for in St. John’s for St. Pat’s in the early 1960s, and captained the St. John’s Capitals to the provincial junior title. He also played for the Corner Brook Royals in a Herder Memorial championship in 1962, and then for Grand Falls-winsor and Gander. He finished his playing career as a player/coach for the Ceebees.
Power was inducted into the provincial Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.
“Dick was a great friend to me, and he was a pillar of strength and wisdom in the Conception Bay area. He touched many lives, and I feel very lucky that he touched mine,” added Cleary.