MPP Todd Smith On Your Team & Check Out Scuttlepuck

TOTAL SPORTS QUINTE Sports Column

CZECH POINTS

FIFTY YEARS AGO, PEEWEE HOCKEY CHAMPS PUT STIRLING ON THE MAP

Fifty years ago, on April 6, 1970, you could hear the sounds of a fire truck siren wailing through the streets of Stirling which in those days would’ve included such downtown fixtures as Bird’s IGA, Noble’s Drug Store, Bernie’s Barber Shop (“where the elite meet to look neat”) and Hatton’s Hardware.

No, none of those places were on fire. In fact, there was no fire. Anywhere.

But there were a bunch of deliriously happy kids clinging to the village fire truck, waving to a cheering crowd of townsfolk and celebrating Stirling’s first-ever OMHA All-Ontario minor hockey championship victory. The Stirling Legion Branch 228 peewees had just defeated Six Nations, with a thrilling series-clinching victory on the road in Waterford, and returned to the village to ride the fire truck late that same night. Kevin Solmes, a member of that 1969-70 Stirling shinny squad, remembers the celebration like it was yesterday.

“I recall the outdoor thermometer dipped well below the freezing mark that night, but as a group we could’ve cared less,” said Solmes, a nifty playmaking forward.

Later, in the summer of ’70, former Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Bruce Gamble was guest speaker at a banquet upstairs at Stirling Theatre. The team dinner capped a wonderful season that Solmes says none of his teammates will soon forget.

Playing out of the old, cold, tin-roofed Stirling Rink just off the main drag and hard by Rawdon Creek (pronounced ‘crick,’ by the way) — now, long gone — the local peewee team played in front of leatherlunged family members, friends, classmates, neighbours and sponsors literally hanging from the wooden rafters when the club drove deep into the OMHA D playoffs and the promise of a provincial banner began to look very real. Accustomed to riding in cars with coaches and parents to road games, Solmes says he and his teammates “felt like pros” when the team hired a bus to deliver them to distant western Ontario outposts as the path to an OMHA title took them farther and farther from Stirling and the local league.

“We felt like professional hockey heroes,” said Solmes. “We thought we were being transported like the guys we admired on Saturday night NHL telecasts.”

Even the ‘aroma’ from the outdated exhaust systems on those 1970 buses couldn’t dampen team spirit, said Solmes, as the Stirling club eventually rumbled its way aboard the iron lung through Madoc, Havelock, Nobleton, then Waterford and its destiny with minor hockey glory. The tight-knit core of that Stirling peewee team would stick together for future success at the OMHA level, culminating with an all-Ontario juvenile DD crown in 1976 when most of the players were bidding goodbye to high school and preparing for life in the real world. Still, 50 years later, Solmes says the 1970 title was special.

“It’s truly overwhelming to realize that an entire half-century has passed since then,” said Solmes. “From a personal perspective, it was an amazing experience that cemented many fond memories and solid friendships that have lasted a lifetime.”

There’s no word yet coming out of Stirling regarding a 50th anniversary reunion. But, if there is, Solmes and his teammates definitely need to ride that fire truck. Again.

Members of the 1969-70 Stirling Legion Branch 228 peewee D allOntario OMHA champions included: Glen Detlor, Paul Munro, Terry Bailey, Jeff (Boom) Farrell, Cliff Reid, Gary Utman, Doug Bastedo, Stan Myers, Terry Bush, Rob De Jong, John Bush, Dave Jeffs, Mark Dobson and Kevin Solmes. Coaches were Bert Bastedo and Ted Dobson; Legion Branch 228 president was Wieger De Jong.

• Need to know: In the OMHA championship series-clinching 4-2 victory in Waterford, Stirling scorers were Kevin Solmes, Rob De Jong, Mark Dobson and Glen Detlor. Dobson went on to play college hockey in the U.S. and is now pro scout for the Winnipeg Jets.

WELL DONE, WOLFIE

Wolf Tausendfreund recently hung up his judicial robe for the last time. Right beside his rugby boots.

As captain of the Belleville Bulldogs in the late 1970s, Tausendfreund was as uncompromising on the field as he was in the courtroom. He led, in the rugby vernacular, ‘from the front.’

Later in his law career, Tausendfreund became a respected judge. A sterling professional career has now ended with the former Belleville barrister stepping away from the bench at the age of 75.

For those of us who learned the game of rugby some 40-plus years ago, Wolfram Ulrich Tausendfreund was a tremendous mentor, teammate and friend.

Enjoy your retirement, Wolfie. You earned it.

(paul.svoboda58@gmail.com)

7 Tune in ...

To the latest episodes of Total Sports Quinte Podcast

TSQ Episode 1: TSN Scouting Director Craig Button Talks NCAA vs Junior. Quinte Red Devils’ Cooper Matthews

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-fgs8c-d67c8a

TSQ Episode 2: Quality Sport Hub Founder Matt Young. Minor Hockey Player Jack MacFarlane.

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-ispyj-d67ca1

Episode 3: World Snooker Champion Cliff Thorburn Tells How He Made It To The Top. Quinte Lacrosse BayHawks President Joe Fee.

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-5972y-d6bb40

Episode 4: Olympic Gold Medalist and World Hockey Champion Jennifer Botterill. NCAA Hockey Player Alexa Hoskin.

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-h4k44-d73a62

TOTAL SPORTS QUINTE Total

Sports QUINTE PodCast

Tune in weekly for great interviews with sports celebrities and local clubs and athletes! Your local Sports PodCast Channel!

Episode 5: Ottawa 67’s General Manager and Former Belleville Bulls Player and Coach James Boyd. Bayside Secondary Track Star and Future Memphis Tiger Liam Walsh.

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-f77ym-d7e191

Episode 6: Anthony Herrington, Oshawa General Scout, Former University Football and Hockey Player. Kendrick Webster, local golfer and NCAA hopeful.

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-9bhvc-d8a1f4

Episode 7: TSN Raptors Analyst Jack Armstrong. Canadian National Team Rugby Player Sara Svoboda.

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-saby7-d953ca

Episode 8: Power Tumbler Jared Matthews and Belleville Senators Strength & Conditioning Coach Jeremy Benoit.

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-233gw-da16d6

Episode 9: PWHPA Hockey Player Hanna Bunton. We also discuss a mid-season NHL tournament concept.

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-gahdz-dadded

QUINTE

In conversation with Cliff Thorburn World Champion Snooker Player and all around great guy. Also catch up with Joe Fee and the QuinteBayhawks Minor Lacrosse talking about the growth of lacrosse and the spring sign up. PodCast Now Streaming ... Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify or your favourite podcast app Total Sports Quinte Total Sports COVERING LOCAL SPORTS IN OUR COMMUNITY

QUINTE

Sports Development Guru Matt Young talking about how we can make sports better for our youth. Special guest Jack McFarlane of the Belleville Minor Hockey Association peewee Bulls House-league program. Now Streaming ... Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify or your favourite podcast app Total Sports Quinte Total Sports COVERING LOCAL SPORTS IN OUR COMMUNITY

QUINTE

In this episode guests James Boyd former coach of Belleville Bulls and current GM of OTTAWA 67s ... OHL draft talk and more ... Plus athlete of the week Liam Walsh Quinte track star committed to Memphis University in the NCAA Now Streaming ...

T o t a l S p o r t s

COVERING LOCAL SPORTS IN OUR COMMUNITY

Episode 10: Coach Of Nippissing University Women’s Hockey Team and Former NHLer Darren Turcotte.

Quinte Royals President Chris Lisle. PodCast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify or your favourite podcast app Total Sports Quinte https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-cjf8i-db969a Episode 11: Dave Naylor of TSN and Jim Buck, Loyalist Subscribe on Apple Podcasts,

College Athletic Director

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-h8h58-dc54c4 iHeart Radio, Spotify or your Episode 12: NHL Executive John Ferguson Jr. and Bay of favourite podcast app Quinte Golf Pro Brandon McLean https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-7m6ft-dd24d2 #Total Sports Quinte