Four locals among latest sports Hall inductees
Honours for NHLer Rogers, media’s Kerr, builder Donlevy, artistic swimmer Padget
They were good at what they did in the sports world. They also were good people, giving back as much — and more — to the community.
For those two reasons, 10 Albertans are set to be inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, making up the Class of 2019. Official induction ceremony takes place May 31 in Red Deer.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said Mike Rogers, a homegrown junior puck star and 12-year professional in both the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League.
“I did it for the love of it, not for the glory. I think everybody who’s been inducted or is going to be inducted, they’ll say the same thing, that ‘It’s not about a pat on the back. It’s about hoping you make an impact on somewhere in somebody ’s life.’ And that’s kind of been my philosophy my whole life.”
Rogers, the most well-known name for Calgarians on the list, joins nine others headed to the hall where teams, athletes, builders and media members are celebrated for career accomplishments.
The other Calgarians in the class are Jim Donlevy (hockey/football builder), Dorothy Padget (artistic swimmer/builder) and Rob Kerr (media).
And fellow Albertans being inducted are Kreg Llewellyn (water-skiing athlete), Lyndon Rush (bobsled athlete), Edward Thresher (wrestling builder), Randy Ferbey (curling team), Herman Dorin (pioneer award, wrestling) and George Stothart (achievement award, multi-sport).
“It’s just such a humbling experience,” said Rogers, who starred for the western Canadian Hockey League’s Calgary Centennials before turning pro and becoming one of four players — Wayne Gretzky, Peter Stastny and Mario Lemieux being the others — to record 100-point seasons in each of their first three NHL campaigns.
“I was born and raised in Calgary —I grew up in Renfrew—and I was an Albertan,” Rogers continued during Monday ’s hall-of-fame news conference at WinSport’s Frank King Day Lodge theatre. “I played professional hockey for 10 years in the States, and not once did I ever think, ‘I want to live in Hartford. I want to live in New York.’ I always knew this was home. My wife and I wanted to raise our three daughters here — we knew how important it was to get our roots back in Alberta with family and friends and everything that goes along with this great province.”
Rogers gave back after his prolific hockey career, becoming arguably the best Flames analyst alongside legendary play-by-play man Peter Maher.
“Mike could be going in for the (Bell Memorial media award),” said Kerr, a longtime broadcast colleague. “Because Mike is by far and away the best analyst I’ve ever worked with.”
Kerr himself is known for his sharp broadcast career, most notably as a colourful sports talk-show host on Sportsnet 960 The Fan.
Prior to that he was the voice for both the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons and the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Estevan Bruins and a sports talk-show host in Edmonton. Kerr did TV play-by-play for the Flames, the Calgary Vipers, the Calgary Hitmen and the Calgary Roughnecks and was a reporter and producer during two-plus decades as a multi-talented media star.
“This is not (an honour) I ever expected,” Kerr said. “The Bell Memorial Award is something else. When I found about this, the first thing I did was look at the award, and you see the names on it and that’s why I struggle with (the honour). Ernie Afaganis, and there’s Ron MacLean and then in Calgary, there’s Joe Carbury and Billy Powers, and it’s Russ Peake, and it’s Grant Pollock, and it’s Dwayne Erickson and John Down, and on and on and on it goes, and it hits you right in the stomach.
“And then my two biggest mentors in the business are both Bell Memorial Award winners — John Short, who taught me everything there is to know about talk radio, and Peter Maher, who took me in and turned me into something.”
Kerr’s giveback to Calgary includes fundraising for both Hockey Alberta and the Flames Foundation, being an ambassador for both KidSport and HEROSHockey and being a director for Sport Calgary.
Donlevy, a coach and builder, devoted his life to teaching and working with young athletes for 51 years.
He coached bantam and high school football before winning two national titles with the Edmonton Huskies junior squad. Then came a vaunted 89-69-3 career as head man with the University of Alberta Golden Bears, leading that program to Vanier Cup victories in 1972 and 1980.
His post-coaching life led him to the WHL, for whom he became an education consultant spearheading a formal education and scholarship program for studentathletes of the junior league.
“Really, I’ve been very fortunate,” Donlevy said. “Basically to have had successes coaching football with some great people and being mentored by (Canadian Football Hall of Famer) Gino Fracas and others and then to step out of that situation and into the Western Hockey League has been huge. The most rewarding thing I’ve done professionally is to have that safety net of the Western Hockey League scholarship program, which is the best scholarship program in North America, for young men coming up in hockey. Seeing them become everything from plumbers and electricians to doctors and lawyers to successful businessmen and every field you can imagine is very rewarding.
“Back in 1972 when we won the Vanier Cup, (Bell Memorial Award winner) Wes Montgomery said to me, ‘Stay humble,’” Donlevy said. “Seeing the people that are in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, how can you not stay humble? Incredible people.”
Padget is one of those. ‘Dot,’ as she’s known, was a synchronized swimmer in the 1960s before training, guiding, supporting, evaluating and mentoring many athletes over the years. Then, Padget eventually became a top-ranked judge for FINA in synchronized swimming — now known as artistic swimming — visiting more than 20 countries worldwide to judge more than 50 international competitions.
“I walked into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame after I knew I was going to be inducted and just marvelled at all the people — athletes and builders, particularly in my sport — (fellow builders) Debbie Muir and Mary Ann Reeves, in particular,” Padget said. “So I really am honoured to be inducted.
“Artistic swimming has become such a big part of my life — first as an athlete, then as an administrator, a judge, a writer (of training materials) and an official at international competitions.”
Seeing the people that are in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, how can you not stay humble? Incredible people.