Scott Radley: Six Burlington men are going into 80+ Hockey Hall of Fame this weekend
By his own admission, Peter Austin is more a skier than a hockey player. He's played all his life but he's not going to tell you he's a superstar. The only place he's a household name for his puck skills would be in his own household.
Does that mean he's not in any halls of fame?
Oh, gosh no," he laughs.
He will be soon. On Saturday, the retired executive from Burlington is being inducted into the hockey hall of fame.
Yes, 80-plus. If you're not familiar with it, that's OK, you're not alone.
A few years back, Austin was trying to get an 87-year-old he knew into Guinness World Records as the oldest hockey player. As he mentioned his plan to a few people, someone suggested he try the 80+ Hockey Hall of Fame instead.
I hadn't heard a thing about it," he says.
Turns out it's a real thing and it's exactly as it sounds. A hall that recognizes octogenarians who play or otherwise contribute to the game. The criteria are, basically, that you're still playing when your age begins with an eight. Or a nine. Or that you've been a builder for this category of hockey. This year they even added a category for referees.
It was started a decade ago in Gatineau, Que.
Maurice Marchand was playing in an old-timers' league that had six guys who'd hit 80. He thought it was amazing they were still going.
There's not many people at 80 years old who are still playing hockey," he says.
Right then he decided something special should be done. The idea was simply to come up with a way to acknowledge them. Just a nod to their longevity and their achievement.
Funny thing happened, though. As guys travelled to tournaments and talked to other guys playing in old-timers' leagues, world of mouth spread. Soon people across the country were becoming aware of it. And suggesting others who should be included.
Gerald Park was one of those who caught wind of it. As one of the guys who helped start the Burlington Oldtimers' Hockey Club in 1975, he was inducted in 2017. It was one of the nice things that has happened to him, he says. For a guy who once won $1 million in the lottery, that's saying something.
Austin's pretty happy about it, too. Especially since Saturday's induction is right at home at the Art Gallery of Burlington and five other people from town (Bob Grenier, Bill Leithead, Dale McKeown, Bob Pring and Dave Trumbell) are going in with him.
While the criteria for admission may seem simple, gaining entry is hardly a breeze. For one rather obvious reason. It isn't always easy to still be playing at their age. One inductee recently passed away. Another guy on the list had to have emergency surgery and can't come.
Park kept going until he got COVID a couple years ago. The league had temporarily shut down but when it returned he gave it a try. He's 85 now. It just didn't feel the same and didn't want to put himself or anyone else at risk. Marchand is also 85. He stopped a little while ago, too.
Austin's still going strong, though. Now 80, he was on the ice just this week. That's not unusual, he often is. But there are also two hall-of-fame games featuring a team of Canadian inductees against an American squad and a third contest involving just this year's inductees (Friday at 1 p.m. and Saturday at 1 and 3:30 p.m. if you want to drop into the Appleby Ice Centre to watch) that he has to be ready to play.
As for that 87-year-old he was initially trying to get Guinness to notice? Turns out there was a guy who was still on the ice at 96. In California of all places. So no record. But that effort taught him about this hall, which worked out pretty well.
And gave everybody a new target to shoot for, perhaps.
Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com