THE HISTORY OF SMRHL (Surrey Men’s Recreational Hockey League)

Special thanks to the group below as this biography was only possible with their assistance:

Jim Flach, John Lingholt, Rick Townsend, Gary Wells, and John Fraser.

Assembled by; Brad Engelland - 2006

Link to; The SMRHL Executive over the years. Print a copy

The Surrey Men’s Recreational Hockey League SMRHL was created in 1983 by Rick Townsend, John Lingholt, Bob Montgomery, Gary Wells and Bob Cox. The founding members were mature Surrey residents who wanted to play hockey without the serious threat of injury that was present in competitive leagues. This group had been playing non-contact hockey (shinny) for three years on a informal basis, but with no guarantee of enough players or ice time availability, the five decided to form a non-contact hockey league for “mature” men

The format was brought to the group by Gary Wells (currently a referee for SMRHL) as he had been involved in a league in Ontario with this format. Although taking many hours of organization (thus the executive of smrhl), this format got rid of dangerous rivalries & cliques that were around in some of the other leagues. It also allowed lesser skilled players a friendlier atmosphere in which to learn and play the game. As well there was nothing with this format anywhere in the lower mainland at that time.

The Fundamental Policies of SMRHL are:

· The league rules reflect and shall continue to reflect that the League is for “non-contact” hockey only.

· The league prevents excessive individual/team rivalry by creating new team rosters at the beginning of each playing season in such a way that players are rotated from team to team.

To create the League, the group approached Surrey Counsel to sell the idea & acquire ice time but were turned down. Dejected but not deterred the group mentioned to John Lingholt (still active in the 05/06 season) what had happened and he informed the group that they should talk to his Uncle who happened to be the Mayor of Surrey, and his friend who was the Head of Surrey Parks & Rec. Needless to say over breakfast at the Mayor’s house it was decided and was approved shortly thereafter by Surrey Council. The funding deposit of $5000.00 was paid by Bob Montgomery.

The League was approved and ice time was awarded at the North Surrey Rec Center “NSRC” but they now needed 100 players as the player list that was used for Council approval was actually an Ontario league. They placed an ad in the local paper for players and showed up at the NSRC (North Surrey Rec Centre) on Saturday morning. They arrived to find a lineup of players waiting to join and by 1:00 PM they had the full league roster, all with deposits and even a waiting list.

The league started with 6 teams and required players to be at least twenty-five years old. Every other year, the League raised its age requirement by one year until it reached the age of thirty or older. Game times at NSRC were 8:00, 9:30,11:00. Original sponsors, Surrey Radiators (white), Prime Collision (black), Van Martin Realty (blue), Pacific Dodge Chrysler (red), Surrey Inn (green) and Chi-Chi's Restaurant (orange “Philly) also Molson Brewery donated $1000.00, (I think they also supplied a couple of cases). Prime Collision was the first ever playoff champion, a team that Jim Flach was a part of (still active in the 06/07 season), 1st championship trophy

The league expanded to 8 teams the second year with the addition of Buns Master Bakery (blue “Quebec Nordiques jerseys”) and & Fleetwood Tile (gold/purple “old LA Kings jersey’s) Fleetwood Tile was owned by Rod Bolivar who started The Hockey Shop and was a league member & executive for years, In year two, with ice times of 6:30, 8:00, 9:30, 11:00 all games were on the small ice at NSRC. The small ice surface was a great equalizer but nobody liked the late start, or the early start for that matter. When the new ice surface was put in at NSRC in approx. 1987 it gave the league a chance to drop the early and late starts so there were two start times on the small ice, 8:00 and 9:30 and two start times on the new ice 8:15 and 9:45. Surrey politics forced smrhl out of NSRC at the finish of the 95/96 season, stating a shortage of ice times for minor hockey, and this after SMRHL had donated $10,000 to the NSRC pool.

SMRHL then moved to The Great Pacific Forum (GPF) in North Delta from 1996/97 - 99/2000 and expanded to ten teams. The league played on three sheets of ice and had a busy bar upstairs, those were good years. The second season at GPF SMRHL had only 9 teams, so every 8th game was a bye. Some liked it, some didn't, but with declining numbers of players and rising costs it was agreed to drop back to 8 teams, and that’s where we've been ever since. After four seasons and some of the most memorable and closest finishes in SMRHL the GPF went into receivership. Prices went up and it was uncertain if SMRHL would have a home. Lots of discussion took place on our future, even a suggestion of building our own arena (Jack Cook always thinks big).

Gary Shepherd, president elect from 2000/01 – 2005/06, saw an opportunity with an old friend Louie Labby who was just promoted to manager of all Surrey Rec. Centers. A new arena was being built in Fleetwood with the intent of making money (more adult rec. hockey orientated) so Surrey Parks & Rec. and SMRHL kissed and made up, hard feelings forgotten. SMRHL has been at Fleetwood since 2000, and it seems to be a good fit for most of the players now registered with SMRHL.

Some of the SMRHL veteran players that are still playing since the inaugural 83/84 season: Marty Kerins, Dale Herman, Jim Flach, Dave Bullen, Walt Laybourne and Chris Webb.