Charles Dickson
Norway Bay August 12, 2023
Hockey Hall of Famer Larry ‘Big Bird’ Robinson teed off at a charity golf tournament hosted by the Norway Bay Golf Club on Saturday afternoon to raise money for Soldier On, a program of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) which contributes to the recovery of ill and injured CAF members and veterans.
The former defenceman and Conn Smythe Trophy winner played 17 seasons with the Montreal Canadians when the team won six Stanley Cups, followed by three seasons with the L.A. Kings.
But on Saturday, Robinson played with the team from Myers Automotive of Ottawa, one of two platinum sponsors of Soldier On charity tournament.
“It’s a charity near and dear to my heart because I was with the military for 32 years,” said John Edelman who, with wife Jodi Armstrong, owns and operates the Norway Bay Golf Club.
“We reached out to Soldier On and said we want to do something for you,” Edelman told THE EQUITY on Saturday.
Edelman has also worked and continues to consult with the Canadian simulator and training company CAE, the second platinum sponsor of the tournament.
“We used our connections, our friends, our family, and brought them all together here,” he said, rhyming off a list of participants that included RCAF deputy commander Colin Keiver, former commander Al Meinzinger, former deputy commander of NORAD Pierre St. Armand, three veterans who were wounded and are part of the Soldier On program, as well as former NHLers including Larry Robinson, Brad Smith, Jim Kyte and Ed Staniowski, a former NHL goalie who also served in the Canadian Armed Forces, among others
Eighteen teams participated in the tournament, two on each of the golf course’s nine tee boxes, followed by a dinner and a silent auction of gifts including a signed Larry Robinson hockey jersey.
