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.