You may or may not be familiar with Smither’s premier Oldtimers Hockey Club, but chances are you have attended one of their games or read about their events. They have hosted the Canucks Alumni here in Smithers for a number of Charity fundraisers including an outdoor game on Tyhee Lake. The Flyers have also played a couple games against the Canucks oldtimers group at Rogers Arena in Vancouver and against the Philadelphia Flyers Alumni in Philly, hosted by two-time Stanley Cup champs and local Smithers legends, Jim and Joe Watson.
This past week, the Smithers Flyers travelled to Nashville Tennessee for an International Oldtimers Hockey Tournament. Nashville, or Music City is the live music capital of the world and home of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry and numerous Honky Tonks of the Stars.
It is also home to the NHL Predators where Smithers legend Dan Hamhuis was originally drafted and spent eight years of his career as a star defenceman. Coincidentally, this hockey tournament would take place at the Predators practice facility.
The Smithers Flyers Team was coached by Enzo Chiavaralloti, Dave Turko and Greg Burns and included players Doug Kerr (C), Murray Anderson (A), Jerry Watson (A), Kent Delwisch, Jason Wiley, Ed Groot, Dennis Olson, Darren McMillan, Ian Smith, Dave Wills, Mark Williams, Jim Jones, Randy Fraser, Brian MacDonald and goaltender Grange Kingsmill. Teams from around the world attended the Tournament with the majority coming from North America.
The Flyers first game was a Friday night event against the Knights from Vancouver, B.C. and quickly became a heated when McMillan was cut with a high stick. In true Flyers fashion, the boys jumped in to back up their teammate with Williams squaring off with one of the Knights' bigger boys resulting in both players receiving a double minors for roughing.
It was a penalty-filled game that ended up in a 6-6 tie with goals from McDonald, Smith, McMillan, Olson and Watson. McMillan received the Player of the Game award.
The Smithers Flyers' next game found them matched up against the Slough Tornados from St. Albans, United Kingdom on Saturday afternoon. This team is advertised on their website as a highly skilled club with most of the players having played elite hockey in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Slough Tornados have three times been the UK national champions and have also won numerous league and challenge cups.
It was evident early that the Flyers coaching staff wasn’t very pleased with the look of the players that morning. Evidently, some of the Flyers had missed curfew the night before and were perhaps not prepared as well as they could have been.
That said, the Flyers came out flying with McMillan scoring the first goal of the game. The Slough Tornados quickly turned that around with eight straight goals and handed the Flyers their first loss of the Tournament. Williams received player of the game for the Flyers but Coach Turko made it clear in the dressing room after the game the team was awful and needed to make some adjustments to their game preparation.
The team got together and discussed the need for better focus on their performance on the ice. They quickly reset and got ready for a Saturday evening tilt against the St. Pints from Toronto, Ontario.
The inspiration from the coach must have resonated with the boys as they turned up the effort and dominated all the way to a 6-0 win with Ian Smith burying the final goal in the third period and Grange Kingsmill earning the shutout and the Player of the Game award.
This win also earned the Smithers Flyers a berth into the Championship game on Sunday, but would match them up against the team that beat them earlier in the day. The three-time UK National Champ Tornados dominated all three games they played in the tournament winning 8-2, 8-1 and 7-2.
It was going to be a nearly impossible task to beat this talented “oldtimers” team, which included a number of players younger than most of the Smithers Flyers’ children.
After a “players only” meeting by the pool Saturday night, and a telephone call from Joe Watson from Philadelphia, the Smithers boys knew what they had to do. Watson let them know that the only way to beat a team with that type of offence was to play as a five-man defensive unit, let them come to you and wear them down. The Tornados had talent but only two lines, while Smithers had three.
Sunday morning rolled in and the Flyers were at the rink early. This Championship game was for the Nashville Cup, which was on display in the arena foyer, glistening under the stadium lights.
The Flyers were ready to go and got the scoring started with a goal from Ian Smith one minute into the game. The Tornados answered with a goal of their own three minutes later and the first period ended in a 1-1 tie.
The Tornados started the second period off with two quick goals to give them a 3-1 lead and the game began to look much like the previous match-up between the two clubs.
However, the Flyers coaching staff quickly made adjustments and reminded the boys what Joe Watson had told them just the night before. With Greg Burns running the defencemen gate and keeping the pairings rolling, the Flyers began shutting down the attack, sealing up the defensive line and blocking shots from the perimeter. The Tornados were clearly becoming frustrated and tired.
With the next five goals coming from Olson, Delwisch, Fraser, Smith and Williams, the Flyers now found themselves with a 6-3 lead and went on to win 7-4 and take home the Nashville Cup with Dennis Olson being named player of the game.
Team captain Doug Kerr was presented with the highly coveted Nashville Gold Cup, which soon became a legendary symbol throughout downtown Nashville. If the Music City locals hadn’t previously known where Smithers, B.C. was, they sure do now.
Coach Chiaravalloti summed it up by stating, “the boys really came together as the tournament went on and when they stayed focused, they were unbeatable.”
For the next four days and nights, the Flyers paraded the Cup around downtown Nashville and throughout the honky tonks meeting people and performers from around the globe giving them the opportunity to sip from the Cup and hear the story of the victory.
The Flyers quickly earned celebrity status throughout the Music City scene starting with a VIP celebration party hosted by Kid Rock and even receiving a congratulatory message during the Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday night.
This group of Smithers ambassadors was proud to represent their small town as they are wherever they go.
Doug Kerr isn’t sure where the Flyers will be travelling next, but said wherever that is, the locals will sure know we are there.
So the next time you see the Smithers Flyers organizing a charity hockey game, volunteering as security at the Celebrity Golf Tournament, or driving their cherished Limo around town, give them a wave and let them know that you’re as proud as they are to be from this amazing little Town.
