New items on display at Hockey Hall of Fame in Swift Current
A recent change of displays at the Ted Knight Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame (SHHOF) in Swift Current will give visitors a new experience of the interesting history of the game in the province.
The change was made by the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (SSHF), which has an arrangement with the Ted Knight SHHOF to provide hockey-related items for the exhibition space.
SSHF Communications Coordinator Matthew Gourlie said the Ted Knight SHHOF is one of 11 satellite halls of fame in the province that are affiliated with SSHF.
“With our agreement with the Ted Knight Hockey Hall of Fame we try to switch up the exhibits about every three years,” he noted. “Typically, that would take place in the summer, but with COVID and everything else it just wasn't a great time to make that change in the summer. So it just happened that this was a good time for us to bring in some new artifacts and have some time to get some new stuff out there. We like to freshen things up to keep it interesting for the visitors and also so we can keep tabs on our end of the collection that goes out to the public.”
The selection of items for the change of displays at the Ted Knight SHHOF was made by SSHF Curator, Bryann Seib. She had a lot of items to pick from in the SSHF collection.
“Currently we don't have any hockey on display here at our Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame,” Gourlie said. “So that meant there's quite a number of items that were available to select from.”
The intention was to select items that had not been on display previously at the Ted Knight SHHOF and to have a variety of artifacts that will interest visitors.
“You're looking for different eras and different levels of hockey, and things that are a little bit different and hopefully tell a bit of the history of the sport in the province,” he said. “So different genders, different eras, different elements, whether it be programs or photos or sticks and equipment or jerseys and different things. So just try to find different ways to tell stories and hopefully engage the public with some of the interesting artifacts.”
These display changes at the Ted Knight SHHOF are quite extensive and hockey fans will have a large variety of new items to view during their visit.
“There's certain elements of the exhibit that are geared towards people in the Hockey Hall of Fame who've been inducted that year, and so that's sort of a year-to-year basis, but the majority of the other elements in the display cases were all switched out this year,” he said. “So it's quite a significant change to the displays. There'll be lots of new things for people to see.”
These hockey items are mostly donated by individuals or sometimes by teams, and these are now part of the SSHF artifacts collections in Regina.
“Most of the items are donated from the athletes themselves from their collections and so we appreciate that,” he said. “It's great that we're able to share those items and show them off, and especially in Swift Current and get some stuff out in the community for people who aren't necessarily able to come to us and see us here in Regina.”
He referred to two items now on display at the Ted Knight SHHOF that were donated by hockey players to the SSHF. There is a pair of skates used by Nick Metz, who played 12 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1934 to 1948. There is a Melville Millionaires jacket that belonged to Brian Propp during his junior hockey years. He later played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to 1994.
Many of these hockey items are old and fragile, and the SSHF will use special protocols to ensure the items are handled and transported in a careful manner.
“All the stuff are fairly well cared for,” he said. “And that is one of the other reasons we like to change it up, because we have museum quality storage here and it's not always great to have certain things out in the open under a glass for display for a long time. We try and change things up so that we can get them back into a more quality controlled environment. So we're trying to make it the best we can for as long as we can.”
The recent changes to the displays at the Ted Knight SHHOF include an update of artifacts and different items in the display cases for the Western Hockey League and the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
“Unfortunately, there isn't something representing all the teams in each of those leagues, but there's a lot of different variety there,” he said. “So I hope there's plenty for people to see and things that catches the eye and catches the interest, no matter what their interest in hockey is.”
The changes cover a wide variety of artifacts and equipment stretching back over the decades to as early as the 1920s.
“It's kind of interesting to see the span and development of some of the equipment,” he said. “There's really nice jerseys that are in the displays now. There's a Regina Aces hockey team jersey from the late 1930s. There's also a Saskatoon Quakers jersey and a Melville Millionaires jersey that are both from around that era as well. So there's quite a few jerseys that span a lot of different years and vintage.”
Gourlie felt the Regina Aces jersey is especially intriguing and one of his favourites in the collection. The Aces started to play senior hockey in the Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League in 1926. It then played in the South Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League from 1937 to 1939, when it combined with the Regina Victorias to from the Regina Vic-Aces.
He noted it is fairly unique to see a Saskatoon Quakers jersey. This specific 1934 Quakers jersey was worn by Burt Scharfe.
“They were a team that was fairly well known in Saskatoon for a number of years during the interwar era,” he said. “I don't know how many of those exist, but there can't be more than a handful at best.”
Most of the items on display are fairly unique and one-of-a-kind. It now includes 16 hockey sticks that were added to the display with the recent change.
“They span a variety of different eras and different genders,” he said. “There are pro players, junior players, women's players that span from the 1930s all the way up to the early 21st century.”
The earliest hockey stick in this display is from the 1935 North Battleford Beavers hockey teams. Other items include a goalie stick used by NHL player Ed Stanioski and Hayley Wickenheiser’s Bauer hockey stick used in the final game of the 1997 Women’s World Hockey Championship.
The Ted Knight SHHOF is located on the upper level of the Innovation Credit Union iPlex in Swift Current. It is open weekly from Tuesday to Saturday from 1-5 p.m. Visitors are required to follow COVID-19 protocols, including hand sanitization and maintaining physical distance while following directional arrows.