To solve Gene Manley’s hockey puzzle, there’s a fighting chance
About two weeks before Christmas, I received a telephone call from Lynda Manley. The Upper Onslow resident was looking for help in finding a newspaper writeup and photo from the early 1960s.
Lynda explained that when her husband Gene was a boy playing in the Truro & Area Minor Hockey Association, he was presented with a hockey stick by a National Hockey League player, Dick Duff of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Hoping to come up with a copy of the write-up and photo to give to her husband as a Christmas present, Lynda was not having much success. Although time was not on our side, I tried to steer Lynda the best I could regarding things she could try. I then wished Lynda the best and asked her to let me know how things worked out.
In late January I heard from Lynda. The project had not been a success, and there was no surprise ‘hockey photo’ to give to her husband on Christmas morning. It was arranged that Gene Manley and I get together; he told me his story which involved a hockey puzzle; I became very interested.
“My friends and I learned to skate and to play hockey every day the ice was safe near the railroad tracks on the west side of Willow
Street,” Manley, 72, recalled. “I remember growing up on Willow Street in front of the hospital, there were a lot of young kids in those days who played hockey on the brook that ran out through Mcclures Mills.”
Manley was introduced to organized hockey in the fall of 1959.
“I played minor hockey in Truro from age eight up until I was 11, we played at the old Truro Forum. Our team was Princess Margaret Rose School, we played against Douglas Street School, Alice Street School and I think Willow Street School had a team.”
Continuing, we discussed the hockey stick presentation.
“I think I was 10 or 11 and playing for Princess Margaret Rose School, our coach was Claude Totten,” Manley said. “I know we won the game, and I remember scoring two goals. I don’t know why I had been presented with the hockey stick, whether it was for scoring the goals, for being named the player of the game, or what?
“I remember after the game at the Truro Forum, it could have been on the ice or off the ice, Dick Duff of the Toronto Maple Leafs presented me with a hockey stick. I remember the hockey stick was fibreglass and it was green. I was really excited.”
Manley said he played three years of minor hockey, the 1959-60, 1960-61 and 196162 seasons. He was uncertain which season the presentation took place. He recalled a few friends and players from the era including goaltender Gary Mackay, defenceman Jimmy Hanes and forward Raymond Totten.
“Those three guys were really good players at the time,” Manley said. “There were a number of players who were higher scorers than I was, so I was surprised to receive the stick. I remember there was a writeup and picture in the newspaper of Dick Duff presenting me with the stick, but I don’t know if it was in the Truro paper or the Halifax paper?”
Manley also explained the fate of the hockey stick.
“The first game using it, we were playing on the brook off Willow Street, I went to take a shot and I broke the new stick. I threw it in the altar bushes, and I’ve never seen it since.”
Now, after all these years, Manley has second thoughts.
“I think about the stick all the time. If I had that stick today, it would be hanging on the wall for sure. It would
be the centre of attention in our home.”
Manley spoke of the importance of the Truro Forum in his life.
“I walked from where
I lived on Willow Street in front of the hospital to Queen Street and down that driveway to the Forum many times,” he said. “It was the place to go, it was the action place, all of my friends and I loved to go there. The Truro Forum was a really important place to all the kids when I was young, there was hockey and public skating in the winter, then during the summer, the Cubs, and the Scouts, which I belonged to, gathered there.”
In August of 1962, Gene’s father, Loran Manley, a wellknown and well-liked nurse at Colchester Hospital, died unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm. He was only 36. Later that year, Gene’s mother Etta, Gene 11, and his two young brothers Reg 6, and Wayne 2, moved to Island East River, near Eureka, in Pictou County.
After completing his education, Gene had a career that spanned 50 years in auto and RV sales. Moving back to the Truro area in 1986, it was in May of 2022 that Gene retired from Pine Acres RV Sales in Stewiacke.
Besides wishing Gene and Lynda all the best in solving the puzzle and locating the newspaper writeup and photo, I have offered to assist.
To date, Dick Duff’s playoff records during 1960, 1961 and 1962 have been looked at closely. In 1961-62, he did miss one-quarter of the regular season because of a broken ankle.
And Duff did visit the Truro Forum at least once during his hockey career, a second visit is also a possibility. I recall one occasion and seeing the Kirkland Lake native hobbling on crutches and wearing a cast on his lower leg. Although I think I recall something about a newspaper photo and writeup about him making a presentation to a young hockey player, I am not 100 per cent certain.
There are a number of steps to take in moving forward, one involves researching old newspaper microfilm. To solve Gene Manley’s hockey puzzle, there’s a fighting chance.
Worth Repeating is a weekly column touching on stories from the past, life experiences and events from the present day. If you have a column idea, contact Lyle at 902 673-2857.