Legends hockey game part of Northwood C.C.’s 50th anniversary party

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This article was published 04/02/2004 (7943 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THEY may not have been major stars, but six men who learned how to play hockey at Northwood Community Centre went on to play professional hockey in the NHL, WHA or AHL.

John Bednarksi, Dave Hrechkosy, Warren Skorodenski, Jim Dobson, Lex Hudson and Gord Tumilson all got their start at in the game at the North End club.

“Northwood has produced more semi-pro hockey players than any community centre in Winnipeg,” claims Dennis Batt, sports director at the Burrows Avenue club.

Batt, along with the club’s hockey convener, Dave Fenn, and president George Vanderlip, is helping to organize Northwood’s 50th anniversary legends hockey game and social this Saturday.

“We’re sending invitations to all of them who played hockey. We’re organizing a ball hockey game and a fun game on skates,” says Batt, a physical education teacher at Stanley Knowles School who grew up playing sports at Northwood.

Tumilson, who was a goalie with the Winnipeg Jets in their WHA days, recalls spending all of his leisure time in sports activities at Northwood. He “intends to be” at the reunion.

“I played hockey and six-man football there and coached both sports there, too. I also used to umpire baseball games,” says the former resident of Selkirk Avenue, who now lives in the Maples. “It was (like) an extended family for me. It was a safe place to go with good people.”

The first community club building was an old box car. Eventually, the city got around to putting up a new building in 1956 or ’57, recalls Vanderlip, adding that he also played hockey at the community centre in his younger years.

“A modern building was constructed in 1994 through the provincial Community Revitalization Program,” adds Vanderlip, stressing that anyone who had any involvement with Northwood over the yeares is invited to the golden anniversary get together.

“My kids played hockey and ringette there, and now my grandkids are playing soccer there.”

The community centre offers more than sports programs, such as a Mom and Me program for new mothers.

“Sisler (High School) uses our facility for some of their programs, too,” he says.

The role of community centres in general has changed over the years, offers Batt, noting that there are more distractions for kids today and tier hockey has changed the nature of the sport at the youth level.

“People don’t get attached to the community centre like they used to do, and that’s a sad thing,” he says. “We used to freeze our toes together (playing outdoor hockey).”

Batt is hoping for a turnout of between 100 to 150 people for the evening social.

“A former hockey coach who’s now 80 said he plans on coming. There will be a wide spectrum of people. Northwood was once one of the big community centres in Winnipeg,” he says, noting that the Nomads football club was started out of Northwood.

For further information, contact Vanderlip at 586-5696 or 582-7555.