Category Archives: 1950 – 1969

JOHN THOMAS

“Men weren’t supposed to figure skate back then”, said Thomas, “I just went about my business and did what I had to do, and what I wanted I wanted to be. I had a wonderful career. I met a lot of wonderful people over the years”.

Thomas was 1955 champion in the Northern Ontario Junior Mixed pairs. He was a 1956 Bronze Medalist for the Northern Ontario Junior Men’s competition. He was also champion of British Columbia Junior Men’s competition and a British Columbia Bronze champion in 1958.

Nationally, he won the Western Canada Silver Junior Men’s Championship in 1958. Thomas started the Stayner figure skating club in 1959 with the Stayner Lions Club. During his 19 year professional career, he spent a lot of time coaching and teaching in several towns. He said somewhere along the line he and his coach decided that mentally challenged children deserved the chance to skate. “We devised a method of teaching them, and it gave them something to strive for” said Thomas, “after being all over it was nice to give something back”.His aunt and cousin are also in the Hall of Fame as volunteer “builders” of sports clubs.

He skated until 1978, long enough to skate in an annual town skating carnival with his two daughters Sheri and Monica. He said that many things have changed since he last skated. He used to take his own luggage onto a Trans Canada (Air Canada) plane. He also said figure skating used to be an art, now it’s a sport!

John Thomas was inducted into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame June 17, 1994. John was honoured for his figure skating career and his work with the mentally handicapped.

DON WESTBROOKE

Don Westbrooke rose through the local minor system and went on to play Junior “B”, Intermediate, and Senior.  He also played professional hockey with International teams followed by the IHL Toldedo Blades in 1963-64 when he won Longman Trophy as “Rookie of The Year”.

1968-69                       Awarded the Gatschene Memorial Trophy as IHL-MVP Award

1969-70                       Awarded the Leo Lamoureux Trophy as IHL Top Scorer

As a 20-year-old IHL rookie for Toledo Blades in 1964, Don scored in overtime to beat defending champion Fort Wayne Komets in deciding sixth game of Turner Cup Finals.

In 1970-71, Don played under the infamous coach – Eddie Shore – with the Springfield Kings & Eddie Shore of American Hockey League. Later he was traded to Rochester Americans where he played with Collingwood native Darryl Sly & roommate Don Cherry.  In 1971-72, Don played in Seattle and led the team in scoring.

On January 5, 1974, Don Westbrooke became a North American trivial answer as he became the “only” North American player to score 3 goals against Vadislav Tretiak (of the Soviet Red Army Selects) and defeated the World Champions 6-4.

In July 1984, Don Westbrooke joined his goaltending father, the late Reg. Westbrooke, as an enshrined member of the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame.

REG WESTBROOKE

Reg Westbrooke was around the Collingwood sports scene so long his presence was almost taken for granted.

Fourteen seasons as the first string goalkeeper for the Collingwood Shipbuilders, A permanent first baseman on local baseball and softball teams, and, all sports scene as sports editor of the Enterprise-Bulletin.

After World War 11, Reg and a few other returning veterans resurrected the Collingwood Softball League and a merry six-year span was whetted but prolific newspaper coverage.

And while he was beating the drums for the softball loop, Reg was walking off with three batting titles. One season his average was an unbelievable .615.

He was a member of Collingwood at the age of twelve, played in the Junior Town League, the Junior O.H.A. team for three years and moved up into the Intermediate ranks in 1938.

Although still of junior age, Reg stayed with the Intermediates and was the back-up goalie for the late Tony Nobes when the Shipbuilders won the O.H.A. Intermediate “A” championship in 1939.

Two more seasons as the regular goalie for the Shipbuilders and Reg’s career was interrupted in 1941 when he enlisted in the armed forces.

The Army team pulled some strings inTorontoand he landed in a Senior League with a team of professionals, playing in theMapleLeafGardensbefore crowds of ten thousand and more.

Another two years of army service followed and Reg found himself playing on a couple of strong Camp Borden teams, one a championship club that was rated with the best amateur hockey teams ever assembled.

After the war, Westbrooke returned home and went in between the goal posts for the Shipbuilders. He became a fixture in this position for the next nine years from 1945 to 1954.

A couple of times, herald aspirants came on the scene but Reg always ended up as the first string goalie. For a good many seasons he operated without benefit of a back-up goalie.

He played goal for two O.H.A. title winning teams under the leadership of Eddie Bush, in 1951 and 1952 and on the 1953 finalists.

A rather unique experience over his ten post-war Shipbuilders seasons was his selection was made by the fans, another time by the club executive and a third time by his fellow players.

His hockey swan song came in March, 1954. Appreciative fans gave him a testimonial presentation when he hung up the pads and moved to Creemore to pursue a career in the newspaper publishing field. Reg married a Collingwood girl, Beverly Mirrlees, and had three children. One son, Don, has just completed a long professional hockey career.

 

ED YOUNG

Eddie Young joins his brother, “Porky” in the Hall of Fame and this will be the eighth time that brother acts have graced this charmed circle of Collingwood athletes.

Eddie was born in Collingwood and like most hockey members of the Hall of Fame, came all the way up through the Collingwood Minor Hockey Association from Novice to Juvenile.

After his graduation from minor hockey status, he played one year with the Collingwood Junior “B” Blues. He led the team in scoring for defencemen and the following season was snapped up by the Guelph Biltmore’s where he performed exceptionally well in Junior “A” company for three consecutive years.

For the next three seasons, Eddie was regarded as one of the top senior “A” players with Port Colbourne, Niagara Falls and Hamilton. During World War II he enlisted and played on army championship teams with Brampton and Camp Borden.

Following his discharge from service, Edie was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, but was assigned to the Central Pro League with Tulsa and Houston, where he performed for four years. His active pro career came to an end in 1959 when he returned to Port Colbourne for three seasons as playing coach.

Eddie Young was inducted into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame on June 11, 1986.

WERNER ZOTTER

Werner Zotter was born to ski in his native Austria, a country famous for champions down through the ages.

He came to Canada with his parents at the age of nine in 1953 and it was not long before he was recognized as an up and comer.

Werner practically lived on the slopes of theBlueMountainbut he found time to launch a modest minor hockey career. He was a better than average goalkeeper on several teams in the Collingwood Minor Hockey system.

In 1959, he won the Southern Ontario Zone championship, repeated in 1960 and won the Canadian title the same season.

A year later, Werner won the Zone title again and annexed the Alpine and Nordic titles with the Ontario Combined.

The same year he captured Junior championship and in 1962 was crowned the Ontario Senior Champion.

His greatest season was in 1966 when he won theOntariofour-way title (Downhill, Alpine, Jumping and Slalom), the Canadian Junior Alpine and his crowing achievement, the Wilkinson Sword Speed Trails atGeorgianPeaks. On that day he averaged eighty-four miles per hour in three downhill runs. It was a record that has never been broken to this day.

He won several competitions in theUnited Statesin 1967 and 68 and came back to win the Southern Ontario Alpine in 1969.

The next two years he coached Canadian Junior team in Trail and later was a ski instructor and coach at Broadmore, Colorado.

Werner spend  many summers in California but returned to Blue Mountain to work with his father in Zotter’s Ski Shop.

DON RICH

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.


	

PETE STOUTENBURG

Ask anyone who saw him skate what kind of hockey talent Peter Stoutenburg had and their answer instead invariably ends with, “he was pretty good, but he was an even better person.”

“The legacy he left was that he was such a decent person that you couldn’t find anyone else who had more integrity,” said Don French, who grew up playing hockey, working with and being the best friend of Stoutenburg. “If someone needed a helping hand, Pete was the first one in the dressing room to stand up and spearhead the effort.”

He played Jr. “C” as an under-aged bantam and soon movedup to the Jr. “A” ranks with Kitchener, Niagara Falls and eventually in the Montreal Metro League in 1964. After two seasons with the New England Amateur Hockey League,  Stoutenburg studied and played hockey at the long-time NCAA Division One program at the University of New Hampshire. In his final year of college hockey, Stoutenburg had five goals and 20 assists in 31 games and set a record for UNH defenders with a goal and four assists in one contest.

The NHL’s Montreal Canadiens came calling and Pete attended training camp with them in 1970.  He was offered a spot on the Muskegon Michigan team in the old Colonial League, but opted to pursue a career in business.

After two seasons with the New England Amateur Hockey League, Stoutenburg studied and played hockey at the long-time NCAA Division One program at the University of New Hampshire. “He always said he wasn’t exactly the best goal scorer but when you saw him skate, you felt a lot more confident about how he played,” said wife Marsha, whom Pete met while at UNH.

Stoutenburg went on to become successful in the insurance industry and was posthumously honoured by Clarica at that company’s recent convention in San Antonio, Texas for his community work.

Hockey was always a passion, however, as he played senior hockey in Barrie and Galt and coached at the Minor, Jr. ‘B’ and University levels St. Catherines, where Marsha resides.

Old-timers’ hockey was a mainstay for Pete and he always returned to the Collingwood area a couple of times a year to play in tourneys with the Legion Vets. That core of players nearly won an all-Ontario title as bantams in 1960-61. Old-timers’ hockey was a mainstay for Pete and he always returned to the Collingwood area a couple of times a year to play in tourneys with the Legion Vets. That core of players nearly won an all-Ontario title as bantams in 1960-61.

Pete took up long-distance cycling with daughter Marlo. She has become a top-flight rower, unable to attend Pete’s induction into the Hall of Fame ceremony as she was in competition at the Boston Marathon of rowing competitions on the Charles River. “If Peter was around he’d say Marlo should go to Boston instead of going to something for him,” Marsha said.
Son Curtis played Jr. ‘B’ in Thorold and at Brock University and had his first child Aug. 27 with wife Vicky. Unfortunately, Stoutenburg is the lone deceased member of the class of 2004 to enter the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame.

Pete died of a heart attack in 2002 on a trip to his hometown of Collingwood, where he’d just purchased a condo.

SONNY ROBINSON

Sonny Robinson was a valuable member of those great Collingwood Jr.’C’ Greenshirt
teams, in 1951 -52 and 1952 – 53, which won back-to-back OHA championships.

Robinson, was the leading scorer for the a Greenshirts in the 1953-54 season before
moving on to play for the Intermediate ‘A’ Meaford Knights for two years, going
to the all-Ontario finals both times. The hard working centre man came
back to Collingwood to play for the Intermediate ‘A’ Shipbuilders in 1956 and
played for eight more seasons.

Robinson’s contributions weren’t restricted to the ice surface as he served as a volunteer at several different positions, including president and a house league coach
with the Collingwood Minor Hockey Association for 1957-79. He was responsible
for setting up a power skating school during his tenure with the CMHA.

Clarence ‘Sonny’ Robinson was inducted in the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

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

ROBBIE SANDELL

Robbie’s hockey career spans an active period of some 40 years counting his seven years with the Collingwood Old-timers squad.

He played on three championship teams in Public school; Juvenile in 1941; Junior “A” with Barrie; Intermediate and Senior with Collingwood, and was a member of the All-Ontario Kinsmen Hockey Club.

Robert Sandell was inducted into the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame, in August, 1984.