The New Liskeard Cubs, a hockey team playing in the Great North U18 League (AAA level), are celebrating 70 years of existence.
Over the years, large-scale festivities have marked the team's 25th, 40th, 50th and 60th anniversary. A souvenir book, 1953-2003, was even created to mark the club's 50th anniversary.
For the 70th anniversary, the members of the organization chose a different formula.
The celebrations
Since the start of the season, former players from the organization have been present at Friday games held at home. A ceremony at the start of the game allows them to be presented to the spectators. Then, they are the ones who take the ceremonial puck drop. They are given a souvenir puck with the Cubs 70th anniversary logo and they are then invited to the restaurant by members of the organization.
Claude Dénommé, president of the team for 25 years, had given himself the mandate to issue invitations to former players of the first team, the one which corresponds to the year of foundation, i.e. 1953-1954.
As he scrolled down the list and conducted his research, he quickly noticed that they were all deceased, except one, Bill Fitzgerald, who lives in Cobalt and is 90 years old.
"He came. His grandchildren brought him. He was in heaven,” he says.
As the formula of celebrating one team at a time did not seem very feasible, especially for the first years of the club's existence, the organization finally chose to emphasize everything by grouping the players by decade. To date, two commemorations have taken place; that of October 27 bringing together 10 former players who played with the team between 1953 and 1962, and that of November 17 bringing together eight former players from the decade 1963-1972.
It should be noted that a summary of the highlights of the decade is also presented during this ceremony.
Some highlights
Among the players who have been part of the organization, some have managed to carve out a prominent place for themselves in the world of hockey.
Claude Dénommé specifies that several of them aspire to Junior B or even to obtain scholarships to play in the United States.
However, seven Cubs players had the privilege of playing in the NHL: Bob Blackburn (1968-1971) for the New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins; Gary Holt (1973-1978) for the California Golden Seals, Cleveland Barons and St. Louis Blues; Randy Holt (1974-1982) for the Chicago Blackhawks, Cleveland Barons, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames; Lonnie Loach (1992-1994) for the Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Mighty Ducks; Kurtis McLean (2009) for the New York Islanders; Rosaire Paiment (1967-1972) for the Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks; Wilf Paiement (1974-1988) for the Kansas City Scouts, Colorado Rockies, Toronto Maple Leafs, Quebec Nordiques, New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabers and Pittsburgh Penguins.
To its credit, the Cubs team has 20 league championships, four provincial championships and two national championships.
Claude Dénommé, who was coach of the team in 1995-1996, remembers the team's victory in Waterloo which led to the Canadian championship in Kamloops, British Columbia.
“Sponsors offered new equipment to each player on the team because they were going to represent Ontario at the national level. This is the year Quebec won with Simon Gagné as a player."
The following year, 1996-1997, the provincial victory led the Cubs, once again, to the Canadian championship, this time in Nova Scotia. The Cubs lost in the final. The whole thing was broadcast on TSN. Alex Bain was a defenceman there and he has memories of that season which he describes as very successful in the history of the club.
Alex Bain's time with the Cubs is one of the defining moments of his existence. A player for two years, he also served as assistant coach, head coach, and member of the executive council. He speaks of the coaching team with whom he evolved with great admiration, notably Don Shepherdson, Claude Dénommé, and Al Roy.
“They gave me a taste for coaching, they inspired me to give back later. Like Claude Dénommé [who has been part of the organization for 50 years], it takes a lot of people to make a team work. They are people so dedicated to their sport."
He also talks about the strong bonds of friendship he created with teammates, and friends invited to his wedding and who are still part of his life today.
The history of the Cubs is rich in success and anecdotes.
“It’s the big club in a small town,” as Claude Dénommé explains.
During home games at Don Shepherdson Memorial Arena, between 300 and 350 people applaud the local team which enjoys a good reputation in the community. With a solid organization, made up of dedicated members, the work is far from finished.
Dominique Roy is a Local Journalism Reporter with Journal Le Reflet Témiscamien. LJI is funded by the Government of Canada.
