‘Well, they must be the team to go for’
Sometimes, he is wearing one of his half-a-dozen jerseys or it’s just something as simple as a ballcap.
From his couch or behind the bar in the corner, Bishop cheered when the Bruins clinched the Stanley Cup after a Game 7 win in Vancouver in 2011.
It was the first Bruins championship since 1972. A bonus was the fact that Bonavista native Michael Ryder scored seven goals during that Bruins run and, of course, the Stanley Cup.
That summer when Ryder brought the Stanley Cup to Bonavista, Bishop was there to welcome him home.
There he got a pair of hats signed as well as getting Ryder’s signature on a poster that rests comfortably on a shelf in the rec room.
Bishop calls himself a hockey fan.
His beloved rec room is not only a tribute to the Boston Bruins, but it also houses memorabilia from the game. There are VHS copies of the 1972 Summit Series and the double Olympic gold medal performances from the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
On a far ledge near the window is a set of commemorative pucks from those Games and even a hockey card binder dedicated to the Toronto Maple Leafs, its pages filled with old Pro Set and Upper Deck cards.
On the floor are old copies of the Hockey News Yearbooks that he would read from cover to cover as a younger lad.
“I grew up with the Original Six. I knew every coach and every player,” said Bishop.
A couple of kilometres up the road in Clarke’s Beach, there is another basement ode to a beloved Original Six hockey team.
Mike Lawlor’s dedication to the Toronto Maple Leafs starts at the top of the spiral staircase that leads to his rec room.
On the way down, you have to pass pictures of classic Leafs like Tim Horton and Red Kelly, as well as a banner that lists the years when the team won championships.
Hitting the ground floor there are more photos and a Hockey Night in Canada symbol displayed in a case salvaged from an old Sears department store.
A few feet from that is when the basement starts to open and Lawlor’s creation comes into focus.
The first thing you’re drawn to is the benches built into the far wall. There is a team bench and penalty box for those that misbehave on game night.
Alongside the team, bench is a small display of Maple Leaf figurines. There is Mats Sundin, Doug Gilmour, Tomas Kaberle, Gary Roberts, Ed Belfour and Tie Domi all skating in a replica arena.
On the floor of the basement is a painted Maple Leafs logo along with two blue-lines and a red-line. Opposite the benches are a row of jerseys and some display cases filled with Maple Leafs memorabilia.
A photo of Bishop’s Falls’ George Faulkner sits on top of the display case and, believe it or not, a signed Montreal Canadiens t-shirt is also on display.
The shirt is signed by Doug Gilmour and it’s the only reason it’s anywhere near the downstairs.
Every stadium needs a canteen and Lawlor’s is no different. Opposite the large television is the candy canteen. Dubbed the Blue Ice Canteen, it has popcorn, cotton candy and plenty of chocolatey treats.
They’re there mostly for the grandchildren and it is all free on game days.
On one of the four leather chairs is a jersey with the number 57 on it. That’s Lawlor’s number and it represents the year he was born.
That means he was 10-years-old when the Leafs last won the Stanley Cup and remembers watching them hoist the trophy.
It’s the reason he’s stuck with them for so long.
“I was a 10-year-old watching the Leafs win the Stanley Cup, I said, ‘well, they must be the team to go for’,” said Lawlor.
The room is the product of 20 years of Lawlor’s hard work. He was 40 when he started at the basement floor with a pix axe.
When he set time to work on the floor, he dug everything out by hand and carted it out by wheelbarrow the same way. It was slow going at first, but the technology got better and the last several years of construction got a lot easier.
It was a labour of love that go him to this point one wheelbarrow load at a time.
“I always wanted a Toronto Maple Leafs rec room,” said Lawlor.
Lawlor finished the room a couple of years ago. There are still some touches he wants to put in place before it is truly finished.
He wants to paint his family on the wall behind the team benches and they’ll serve as the fans for the room.
When he put the finishing touches on this stage of the room, it was a representation of the vision he had in his head.
While that vision was a tribute to his favourite hockey team, it wasn’t long before it started morphing into something else.
Just as Bishop’s room became a place for him and his family to watch the games together, Lawlor’s room took on a similar role as his family started to grow.
It became a gathering place for children and grandchildren to watch the game and be together.
“(The room) is what it is until they all come down over the stairs,” said Lawlor. “Then, she comes alive. Now it’s a whole different meaning.”