Local hockey icon Bill Barber was on hand to drop the ball for the ceremonial face-off at the Bill Barber Complex named after the Hall of Famer.
"It is an honour always to come back home," said Barber, who still owns a cottage in Callander.
"I can't express how privileged I really am to be part of this it is for a great cause obviously. The complex here in Callander is phenomenal, the town of Callander and the North Bay area are all special to me."
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The hall of fame forward with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1970s and 1980s knows that time flies. It will be 50 years this fall when he donned the Philadelphia Flyers jersey for the first time.
"I am just looking back in time and heading back to Philly here and it will be 50 years coming up this fall," reflects the 69-year-old Barber.
"There are no regrets, it has been a good run. To come back in the summers here, I do have a cottage here we get to. With that said, it has been fun and a lot of great friends. Family is everything. Hockey is special as well obviously and to be part of this it, takes every word away from me honestly."
Drafted seventh in the first round by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft, he spent only 11 games in the minors before being called up to the NHL where he played 1023 regular season and playoff games before retiring. He was named 1st Team All-Star left winger in 1976 the year he scored 50 goals and added 62 assists for 112 points - his most productive season. In 1979 and ’81 he was voted to the 2nd All-Star team and in 1974 and ’75 he helped the Flyers to consecutive Stanley Cups. He scored 40 goals or more five times on his way to 420 regular-season goals, 463 assists and 883 career points (along with 623 penalty minutes!). His playoff performances in 11 seasons were no less impressive with 53 goals, 55 assists and 108 points in 129 games.
Barber is grateful for his success with the Flyers organization where he also coached and won the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL's top head coach back in 2002. He left the bench to work behind the scenes with the Tampa Bay Lightning as Director of Player Personnel where he got another Stanley Cup ring with the Bolts in 2004.
Fast forward to 2022, and Barber is still involved in the game he loves with the Flyers where he is a senior advisor with Comcast, which owns the Philadelphia Flyers. He is joined in that role by other Flyers icons Bobby Clarke and Paul Holmgren.
"I work closely with Dave Scott who is the CEO of Comcast," said Barber about his position.
"I spend a lot of the time in Florida but I go back and forth here and when the Flyers are playing at home in stretches I fly back and see the team. I am involved in meetings that I am heading back to after this event. I am tied up most of the week with scouting meetings," he said.
"We are looking to improve our team, it is unfortunate what happened to us this year with injuries and stuff but I think we will be a real good team in the near future."
Before his Flyers days, Barber recalls wearing the North Bay Trappers colours as a 15-year-old.
Barber had just turned 15 when he began playing with the NOHA Junior 'A' North Bay Trappers in 1967. He scored 50 goals and carded 123 points in two seasons with the locals before joining the OHA's Kitchener Rangers where in three seasons he tallied 127 times and piled up 298 points.
"I want to thank the city of North Bay going back to 1968 when I was 15 years old and I had the opportunity to play in North Bay with the Trappers and win a championship my first year," he recalls.
"I played two years with the North Bay Trappers before I went south to play in Kitchener but I can't thank the area enough. The people involved in hockey at that time and helped push me along to where we are today and it is a special area and I explain that to a lot of people down south of here and how beautiful this area really is, how nice the people are and what family is all about. I am very fortunate."
