Butlin was key player in Calgary sports
Native Calgarian was a radio host, skilled organizer
Calgary has lost one of its legendary sporting pioneers.
Ron Butlin, the inaugural president of the Calgary Booster Club in the early 1950s, president of the now junior Western Hockey League in its infancy in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and a member of the Canadian contingent to Moscow for the 1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series, died Wednesday at his home in Victoria, B.C. He was 89.
Butlin, a native Calgarian whose grandfather, James, was part of the North West Mounted Police’s inaugural trek west in 1874, resided here until he moved to Victoria in 1974.
“At a very early age, he became involved in sports — not just participating but also organizing,” nephew Jim Butlin, a Calgary lawyer and avid sports fan, said Friday.
“He was involved in organizing and coaching baseball in the 1950s and just went from there. He was involved in the liquidation business, and that provided him financial independence in sports ventures without relying on that for income.”
Ron Butlin was host of the between-period Hot Stove League on radio broadcasts of the old professional Western Hockey League in the 1950s, when the organization rivalled the National Hockey League.
When the WHL folded in 1964, he sought to fill the gap in senior hockey here by forming the Calgary Spurs — a cornerstone franchise in the old Western Canada Senior Hockey League — and owned them for four years before selling the club.
He then became president of the outlaw Western Canada Junior Hockey League in the late 1960s, which successfully sued the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association for payments for players drafted into the NHL. Eventually, the powerful elite league joined the CAHA and was later renamed the Western Hockey League, of which the Calgary Hitmen are today a member.
“He was trying to get the NHL to give juniors more money to become more stable and produce top players,” Jim Butlin said.
“He became good friends with NHL president Clarence Campbell and they used to get together often in the off-season.” Following his stint with the WHL junior league, Butlin was summoned by Alberta premier Peter Lougheed to become the original chairman and managing director of the Alberta Summer and Winter Games that began holding multi-sport events in 1974.
Ron Butlin then moved to Victoria and took a similar position with the British Columbia government to oversee the development of such events in that province, and later was hired by the State of Washington to exercise his skills in their state games movement.
While in Victoria, Ron Butlin also was most recently known for organizing annual Santa Claus and Victoria Day parades in the B.C. capital for the past 22 years.
In a recent article featuring the 40th anniversary of the CanadaRussia series, Ron Butlin recalled the tense atmosphere at the arena in Moscow during the final four games of the eight-game series, during which he witnessed Paul Henderson’s dramatic series-winning goal late in the eighth game.
He recalled the then-Communist regime’s oppressive nature, which included soldiers carrying rifles throughout the arena, although the people were friendly.
Ron Butlin is survived by daughters Cheryl and Allison, three grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife, Shirley.
A celebration of his life is scheduled for Oct. 18 in Victoria.