All posts by Mark

1950 - 1969, 1970 - 1989, 1990 - 1999, 2000 - 2009, All, Hockey, Male

DON RICH

Leave a comment

Donald nicknamed “Richie” was born in Stayner, Ontario on Oct.29, 1938 moving to Collingwood in 1943. He is married to Sharon and have 3 children, Mark, Brad, and Lisa. Don was educated at Victoria Public School and Collingwood Collegiate Institute.

A summary of his hockey career is as follows:

1954-55 – Collingwood Midgets / OHA Midget B Finalists
1955-56 – Collingwood Juveniles / OHA Juvenile B Champions
1956-59 – Guelph Biltmores Junior A
1959-60 – New York Rovers Eastern Professional
1967-1968 – Collingwood Kings / OHA Senior A Provincial Finalists
1974 – 2000 – Numerous MVP Awards at Kinsmen/Oldtimer Tournaments
2000 – Collingwood Don Cherry’s Ontario Silver Medallist, Ontario Senior Winter Games-MVP Award

Incredibly, it was during the 2000 Senior Games that Don recorded 5 shutouts without taking gold! An overtime goal during the Gold Medal game was the only goal surrendered resulting in Collingwood taking home the Silver Medal.

As a member of the community, Don has been an Executive Member of the Kinsmen Club and a Past President for the Collingwood Minor Hockey Association. Founding member of Collingwood Beaver Lumber Oldtimer Hockey Club, Organizer of Collingwood Municipal Hockey Team/Tournaments,

This evening June 9, 2000 marks the induction of “Richie” into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame in the Players’ category.


	

	
	




	
	

				

			1980 - 1989, All, Builder, Male
		

		
RON RALPH

		

			 			3 Comments
					

	


		

		
When Ron Ralph moved with his family from Kentucky to take over managership of the Canadian Mist Distillers in Collingwood in 1968, he had two things in mind.


He was going to see that his firm would become a good corporate citizen and that

he, himself, would be an active private citizen in the town of his adoption.


Interested in all phases of sport in his native Kentucky, he continued to dominate the sports scene in the a Collingwood as a competitor and an organizer.


Ron was the driving force behind the organization of the Georgian Bay Slo-Pitch Softball League, now one of the longest and best in Ontario. He served as President of the League in 1973 and 1974 and become the first chairman of the infamous Collingwood Summerfest Slo-Pitch tournament, an annual event which attracted fifty teams from all parts of Ontario, including a couple of clubs from the USA.


Ron played basketball in the Kentucky Little League up through high school. His team later won the junior district title and the regional championship in the senior ranks.


He played baseball for the 504 Paratroop Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and later played senior baseball in the Kentucky Tri-County League for the Beals Red Sox.


He organized a Babe Ruth League in Owensboro,  Kentucky. Ron coached a team, built the playing field, umpired and rustled up the team sponsors. For this project, Ron received the Kentucky Colonel Award. When he moved to Collingwood, Ron played fastball in the Blue Mountain League.


He found that fastball in Collingwood was as good as the US but preferred slo-pitch as it seemed more like baseball strategy and more all-around action.


In the summer of 1970, he was able to get a group of men to play challenge slo-pitch games and the following year organized the first Slo-Pitch Industrial League with the able assistance of John Hill and Tommy Murray. He continued direct involvement in the league until 1978, during which time he built the Canadian Mist team to championship caliber in the newly formed Ontario Slo-Pitch Association.


Along with Frank Smalley, Ron started the Collingwood Minor Baseball League in 1972. He coached several teams in the league for a couple of years before he was elected president of the league in 1974. The league grew by leaps and bounds and Collingwood hosted the All Ontario Bantam tournament in 1975.


A Collingwood team won the provincial title in 1979.

	

	
	




	
	

				

			1950 - 1969, 1970 - 1989, 1990 - 1999, All, Baseball, Male, Track & Field
		

		
PAUL PURSIAINEN

		

			 		

	


		

		
Paul, nicknamed “Percy” was born in Rouyn, Quebec on March 29, 1930, living in Collingwood from 1945 to 1960. Alongside his wife, Isabel, they have three children Douglas, Constance and Patricia. Paul was a graduate of Collingwood Collegiate.


Paul favoured the warmer weather to excel in his sporting career. Throughout the greener months, his accomplishments were numerous on the baseball diamond and track & field pitch. As a member of the Collegiate Track & Field Team, Paul established a long list of school records including;

Senior Long Jump – 20’ 6”, Senior Pole Vault – 11’ 4 ½”.These records, alongside numerous invitational titles culminated in 1950 when Paul was the All Ontario (OFSAA) Senior Pole Vault Champion.


Upon the completion of the Track & Field season, Paul’s baseball career began to materialize from his early days in the Collingwood Shipyard Town League (Softball) in conjunction with his numerous Fastball teams. As a pitcher in both disciplines, Paul took home many team titles including: 1952 – Collingwood Shipyard League (Softball), 1953 & 54 – Coop Insurance League Champs (Softball), 1955 & 56 – Allenwood Georgian Bay Rural Champions and MVP (Fastball), 1957 & 58 – Minesing Barrie Senior League Champions (Fastball), 1960 & 61 – North Bay League Champs (Fastball), 1963 – Northern Ontario Intermediate A Champs and All Ontario Finalists (Fastball), 1978, 81 & 84 – Alliston Softball Champions. Paul’s fastball career featured a No Hitter, 1 – One Hitter, 13 Championships and 2 MVP awards.


Paul became a member of the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame on June 12, 1998 in the Players’ category

	

	
	




	
	

				

			1900 - 1929, 1930 - 1949, 1970 - 1979, All, Football, Hockey, Male
		

		
JACK PORTLAND

		

			 			Leave a comment
					

	


		

		
We can name a half dozen Collingwood boys who could be classed as “all round athletes” but from a national standpoint the honours must go to Big Jack.


As a hockey player he starred for ten years in the N.H.L. with Montreal, Boston and Chicago.


His name will be found on the Stanley Cup, alongside such greats as Eddie Shore, Bill Cowley, Dit Clapper, Cooney Weiland and the Kraut line of Schmidt, Bauer and Dumart. That was the team of 1939, considered to be Boston’s greatest. That year the Bruins lost only ten games in a 48-game schedule and defeated Toronto four games to one in the Stanley Cup final.


His professional hockey career was cut short by at least five years when World War II intervened. After three years service with the Canadian Army, Jack never returned to the N.H.L.


Pro football lost him because hockey was his first love. He turned don three football offers before signing with Canadians. Jack represented Canada at the 1932 Olympiad at Los Angeles and the 1930 British Empire Games at Hamilton in the high jump event. We always thought he should have competed in the decathlon. He could run 100 yards in ten seconds, toss the javelin, heave the shot put, run the half mile, long jump and triple jump and, of course, set records in the high jump.


He finished his great athletic career back in his home town by playing for the Collingwood Shipbuilders and coaching the Collingwood Greenshirts to their first of four O.H.A. Junior “C” championships.


Jack Portland qualifies for the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame in just about any category you care to mention.

	

	
	




	
	

				

			1930 - 1949, 1970 - 1979, All, Hockey, Male
		

		
CHARLES PORTLAND

		

			 			Leave a comment
					

	


		

		
If an athlete from Collingwood excels in five competitive sports and plays on a World championship hockey team, he certainly qualifies for a spot in his home  town’s Hall of Fame.


Bus Portland performed in the shadow his famous brother, Jack, but nevertheless he was one of the best all Collingwood. We remember a bright sunny day back in 1934 when Bus Portland stole a whole athletic show in the annual Ontario Athletic Commission Meet in Orillia.


All he did that day was win the pole vault, high jump, 12- pound shot put and the long jump, had it not been for a special rule. No athlete was allowed to compete in more than three events in high school athletic events sponsored by the Ontario Athletic Commission.


That same year he set a record in the Collingwood Collegiate Field Day by winning the senior medal with six firsts out of seven events.


He was just as good on the football field. Playing at centre half, he ran plunged and kicked the C.C.I. to a C.O.S.S.A. championship in 1934.


Bus had a very colourful hockey career but his greatest hockey thrill came in 1938 when he starred with the Sudbury Wolves, winners of the McReavey, Gordie Bruce, Fan Hexime and Johnny Godfrey, the Wolves sailed through the entire tournament without a loss. He played on Collingwood junior teams before turning pro with the Hershey Bars in the American League. That team won the American League title in 1936. His last year in hockey was with a winner in 1939 when the Detroit

Ford Holyboughs won the Michigan- Ontario championship.

	

	
	




	
	

				

			1970 - 1989, 1990 - 1999, All, Football, Male
		

		
RYAN POTTER

		

			 			Leave a comment
					

	


		

		
Back in 1974, running back Ryan Potter, donning CCI’s gold and black, dominated play in Simcoe County during his high school years, but had to ask for a tryout with the University of Western   Ontario Mustangs.


The first year I was at Western there were 45 running backs trying out for the team.  “It was ludicrous” said Potter.  “They ended up keeping six of us, and I was fortunate enough to be one of them.”  Potter went on to have a five-year career in the Canadian Football League, and at the time was only the second Collingwood resident to ever get that far – the first being Jack Portland.  But it was with the Mustangs that the tailback enjoyed his greatest success.


During his four-year playing career at Western, from 1978 -81, the Mustangs went 35-8 and won three consecutive Yates Cup Championships (emblematic of the Ontario university title).  Potter was awarded the Dalt White Trophy as most outstanding player in two of those championship games – ’79 and ’81.


He had 1,172 yards on just 130 carries and ranks 10th on Western’s all-time yardage list, despite being the only player among those top 10 who had less than 200 carries.


Ryan started his career at Western with two fellow-freshmen running backs, Greg

Marshall and Mike Kirkley, who would form over the next four years perhaps the

most dynamic threesome in Canadian university football history, said Larry Haylor, long time head coach of the Mustangs.  “We have always been motivated at Western by team goals and it’s testimony to Ryan’s character that he always placed team before self.”


In the 1982 CFL Canadian College Draft, Potter was chosen in the third round by

the B.C. Lions, who would later draft a couple of other Collingwood residents,

Scott Lecky and Reinhardt Keller.  He played for four years with the Lions

and one more with Calgary before calling it quits.


At CCI, Potter was the captain for two junior teams, yet he played only one year

of senior because of his age.  A two-way player, he won CCI’s athlete-of-the-year on two occasions.


Potter is married with two daughters and is a sales trainer for a pharmaceutical

company.  He recently moved to Toronto from Vancouver. Ryan Potter was inducted into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

	

	
	




	
	

				

			1970 - 1979, All, Builder, Male
		

		
WALTER ROBINSON

		

			 			Leave a comment
					

	


		

		
Born in Streetsville, Walt Robinson came to Collingwood with his parents as a very

young boy.


He played hockey, lacrosse and baseball for Collingwood junior teams in the early

parts of this century but his mark was made as a coach and trainer.


Walt played and coached to win and he never tired to cover his contempt for laughing

losers. He regarded a loss as a team to show it on their faces.


He started coaching Collingwood hockey and lacrosse teams in 1910 but his greatest

success came in 1918-19-20 when he guided the Collingwood Shipbuilders to three

consecutive O.H.A. Intermediate “A” championships. Newly Lalonde

brought him up to the international Hockey League as a trainer with the Niagara

Falls Cataracts in 1930. He ended up coaching that team when Newsy quit in mid

season.


The Falls club disbanded and Walt went back to the O.H.A. where he brought the

Parry Sound Shamrocks to the Junior semi-finals.


For the next three years he was head hockey coach for the R.C.A.F. at Camp Borden

and twice brought the Flyers top the semi-finals.


He finished his coaching career with Collingwood in the early thirties.


On Walt’s recommendation, Leo Dandurand signed Jack Portland after only one year’s experience in Intermediate ranks. Portland starred for ten years in the National Hockey League and was a member of the  Stanley Cup winning Boston Bruins in 1939.


Walter Robinson died on June 23rd, 1968. He was seventy-eight.

	

	
	




	
	

				

			1990 - 1999, All, Builder, Male
		

		
DON PAUL DR.

		

			 			Leave a comment
					

	


		

		
Born in Hamilton on March 5, 1933, Don Paul grew up in Pamour, Ontario.  Following his schooling in South Porcupine, Toronto, and University of Toronto, ‘Doc’ as he is known to all, moved to Collingwood in 1961. Don and his wife Joan have raised three children, Margo, Gordon and Douglas.


Unquestionably, Don’s recognition as a ‘Builder” is the result of his ongoing efforts on behalf of the local charities and sports. A list of his contribution to our sports scene is all-encompassing as illustrated by this summary of his involvement.


-Past President and executive member of the Collingwood Shipbuilders’ hockey clubs


-Past President and charter member of the Collingwood Blue Mountain Golf and Country Club


-Member of the management committee of the Ontario Winter Games (1991)


-Chairman of the fundraising committee for the Ontario Winter Games (1991)


-Executive and charter member of the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame (1974-1990)


-Member of the executive committee for fundraising campaign for the Collingwood YMCA (1978)


-Past Chairman of the Collingwood Recreation Board.


–Player, coach and manager Christies’s Men’s Wear Slo-Pitch Club,(a) All-Ontario finalists 1978-1990; (b) Summerfest Tournament champions three times; (c) League champions three times.


-Collingwood Summerfest Slo-Pitch Tournament chairman (1985-1990)


-Member of the Foundation of the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital.


-Past president of the Collingwood Rotary Club.


-Presented the Order of Collingwood, January 1, 1991.


Don Paul was inducted into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame on June 20, 1992, into the Builders’ Category.

	

	
	




	
	

				

			1930 - 1949, 1950 - 1969, 1990 - 1999, All, Hockey, Male
		

		
CAL PATTERSON

		

			 			Leave a comment
					

	


		

		
Born in Collingwood on July 29, 1929, Cal is a lifelong citizen of our community. A graduate of Victoria Public School and Collingwood Collegiate, Cal and his wife Lenora have five children – Wendy, Patricia, David, William and Carole.


Cal’s hockey career spanned 5 decades as a player and coach. In 1944-45, Cal began his playing career in the Town League as a South End Dynamiter ascending to the Collingwood Juveniles (1947), Collingwood Junior B Sailors (1948 & 49), Collingwood Intermediate A (1949-54 & 1955-56). He played with the Aylmer Intermediates in 1954-55 and returned to play with the Collingwood Senior B team in 1964-65. His competitive career ended in 1966 with the Senior B – Midland Flyers.


During his playing years, Cal won the Intermediate A Championships in 1951 and 1952 and OHA Senior B Georgian Bay Group Champions in 1965.


Immediately following his playing days, Cal coached the Stayner Lions to the OHA Intermediate D Championship. He also managed the Senior A – Collingwood Kings from 1967-69 and Collingwood Intermediate A team from 1972-74.


Cal is recognized for his hockey career, becoming a worthy member of the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame on June 12, 1998 in the Players’ category. 

	

	
	




	
	

				

			1950 - 1969, 1980 - 1989, All, Builder, Male
		

		
JOHN PALMER

		

			 			Leave a comment
					

	


		

		
John Palmer’s racing boats were built for speed – at times exceeding 100 miles per

hour! Introduced to speed boat racing at that age of 14, John was Canada’s

highest profile, hardest working race boat builder, designer and racer.


John created the infamous Slokum II race boat in 1947 and captured Canada’s

Hydroplane championship for the next 7 consecutive years.


He reached the pinnacle of his career in 1969 when he rebuilt a 280 cc class

inboard hydroplane, including the engine to take the Canadian championships on

Couchiching Bay by 20 seconds in front of 10,000 spectators.


In later years, he transferred his mechanical engineering knowledge into an “ice

racing” boat.


John and his wife Phyllis are the proud parents of Sue Palmer-Komar, a world class

cyclist.