Play On! Hockey Hall of Fame

It was Induction weekend at the Hockey Hall of Fame this past weekend. Fortunately, I had the privilege of being in attendance at the Induction ceremony for the fourth straight year to watch as this year’s crop of greats were welcomed into the Mecca of hockey history.

It was a great night (except for the caterer who dropped a tray of champagne glasses down the escalator as she entered the party – talk about making an entrance!).

My role at these events, as a volunteer, is to punch the tickets and welcome guests on the red carpet (the only way I’m ever going to be encouraged to walk down one of these). Sure, I don’t get to listen to the speeches, sip champagne with the greats, mingle in the Great Hall with the Stanley Cup or even sit down, but I do get to see how many of the Hall of Famers I recognize as they arrive (I’m probably batting less than 0.100).

Despite my poor performance, it’s always fun to have some interaction (albeit limited) with the greats. The highlight for me this year – Lanny King McDonald complimenting my moustache. Of course, my 14 day old crumb catcher was no match for his impeccable soup strainer, but this small courtesy he extended to me was lesson # 1 to growing a moustache, “It’s like giving a gift – it’s the effort that counts.”

Moustache lessons from Lanny “the King of Moustaches” McDonald (best I could do)… Safe to say it was a good night.

Anyway, the whole night got me thinking how a Play On! Hall of Fame would look. Yes, the Redwood Cup took up temporary residence in Downtown Toronto, but so long as Play On! is Hockey Night in Canada’s, we are on the outside looking in (The Hockey Hall of Fame is sponsored by TSN).

No matter. Even though street hockey has an incredibly long history, Play On! is only 8 years old. Still too young to establish an extensive Hall of Fame. Therefore we can work out the location at a later date.

In the meantime, I thought I’d speculate about who’d make the early ballots:

Builder Category: Easy choice here would be Scott and Cassandra Hill. Obviously, you cannot overlook the founder of the program. In a way, they would define this category as no one has done more to build this program into what it is today. Scott dreams up the ideas, Cassandra brings him back to reality, and then together they create and nurture the program (along with 5 going on 6 children).

However, I’ll give you another name/couple to consider, as what they’ve done in Alberta is a microcosm of Play On!’s growth in Canada. Vern and Sheri Gherhardt are the Calgary and Edmonton operators and run the largest Play On! events in the country annually. Over a combined 1000 teams compete in their two events each year and while the numbers are staggering, the quality of the events remains top-notch. The complexities of operating 45-50 rinks simultaneously are quite numerous, but Vern and Sheri have it down to a science. Together they continue to set the highest standards for all Play On! events. Other operators are getting there, but Vern and Sheri live there.

Team Category: Again, easy choice is the Vancouver Ball Hoggz. Even though they lost in the quarter finals in the last edition of the National Championship, they are still the most successful Play On! team ever (in terms of prize money and National Championships).

I’ve already written at length about them though, so the next nod for me would go to the Calgary Phantoms. These guys are the most consistently good team I’ve ever seen. They’ve earned every single one of their National Championship invitations by winning the uber-competitive Play On! Calgary event routinely. They’ve also made it twice to the big dance in the last three National Championship tournaments ending in close losses to the Vancouver Ball Hoggz and the Slave Lake Sting. Already a Hall of Fame team in my book, if you add a Championship to their list of their accomplishments somewhere down the road, they will certainly be considered one of the greatest Play On! teams ever.

Player Category: Not to sound like a broken record, but the simple route would be to pump Smiter Kaila’s (Ball Hoggz) tires some more. Being compared to Wayne Gretzky obviously gets you some consideration on the Hall of Fame ballot, but instead, I’m going to give some props to a Broken Arrow.

The Broken Arrows are an up-and-coming team out of Regina, Saskatchewan. I first saw them play in the 2010 qualifier and while Mike Wirll stood out to me as the best road hockey player I’ve ever seen, the team’s captain, Leo Desnomie, has to be considered the Broken Arrows’ MVP. Leo, normally an out player, backstopped his team to the semi finals in this most recent National Championship. This run included a shoot-out win against the defending champion Ball Hoggz, where Leo closed the door on Vancouver’s top scorers. That is the kind of stuff that Play On! Legends are made of. Had it not been for an unfortunate eye injury to one of his teammates in the semi-finals, the Broken Arrows very well could’ve hung on against the Slave Lake Sting and played for the Redwood Cup. Look for Leo to lead them to a Championship in the near future.

Side Note: That first time I saw the Broken Arrows play was in the finals of the 2010 Regina qualifier against the Saskatchewan Screech. In that game, Screech captain Justin D’Entremont, also normally an out player, was net-minding because their regular goalie went down to injury in the semi final. Now I’m not saying that Justin inspired Leo, but it is an interesting coincidence nonetheless!

Women’s Category: This is actually a tough one. Do you choose a builder, a team or a player? The women’s divisions are just starting to grow and so it’s difficult to choose. If we’re going with a builder, you could perhaps reference how the Regina Craaazy Canucks are largely responsible for the Women’s National Championship even taking place. If we’re going with a team, then maybe you go with the Vancouver Wellwoods who, like the Regina team, have played in every women’s National Championship to date, but have enjoyed more success. However, they haven’t hoisted the cup so I’m not sure if you can give them the nod either.

So instead, I’ll go player in an attempt to give props where props are due. This most recent National Championship saw the Burnaby Hawks defeating the Edmonton Fusion in what was one of the most exciting games I’ve ever seen. This is also where Jennifer Price earned my vote for induction to the Play On! Hall of Fame.

First, let me set the scene. This game was intense. If there were bleachers, no one would be sitting because the play was too exciting. Tough to really describe how good it was, but in general it was one of those fast-paced, back and forth affairs that saw everything. Great chances, crafty goals and incredible saves.

Skip forward to the end which was an unbelievable finish.

With about 3 minutes left in the game, Burnaby found themselves down by 1 and on their heels. Edmonton was looking pretty strong and pressing for an insurance marker. One of the ladies broke in on a partial break on the right wing and ripped a shot which Price stopped but gave out a juicy rebound to the left wing. The first player to reach it was another Fusion player who tee’d up a blast that Price managed to recover for. This time, the rebound fell to the mouth of the net.

With an open cage, Edmonton went to bash home a key goal when Price dove across the crease to deny the Fusion of an almost certain victory. A 2-goal deficit at that point would’ve been insurmountable for sure.

Now the best part about this sequence was the crowd reaction. Hundreds of spectators, including many of the men’s teams, had gathered to cheer the ladies on. In unison, the cheers for these 3 big saves went something like this, “ohhhhhh, Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, OHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” accompanied with huge applause. It was really an unforgettable moment.

A couple minutes later, Burnaby tied up the game with a few seconds left forcing a shoot-out. In it, Price was virtually unbeatable, outlasting the Fusion through over ten rounds and capturing the Redwood Cup. Thanks to this performance, the Price is right for the Play On! Hall of Fame!

So there you have it. Let me know if you agree or if you think I’ve got it wrong. The beautiful part about Play On! being a program that is accessible to all is that anyone can make the Play On! Hall of Fame and maybe one day, we’ll be writing about you!

Play On!

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