Darcy Findlay organizes a community hockey tournament every year in memory of his grandfather, but this year that tournament was a little bit different.
Longtime volunteer Fish Findlay gave a hand to many Shawville organizations — minor baseball, minor hockey, the fair board.
“If someone was building a barn, or needed a shed built, it seems he was always there contributing somehow. He had his hands on a lot of things,” said grandson Darcy, who is a teacher at Pontiac High School.
Most of all, Fish Findlay was known as being the equipment manager for the Shawville Pontiacs Jr. B team — the highest level of junior hockey to have ever been hosted in the town.
The team stopped play in 2015, and since folding many of its former players have gone on to play senior hockey, including for the Paugan Falls Rapids, the senior team based out of Low.
Darcy, who plays for the Pontiac Senior Comets, said when he found out his team was due to play the Rapids on home ice he wanted to organize a Jr. B alumni night to recognize the former players and staff.
“They’ve got a lot of connections to the Shawville area, a lot of family ties, so I thought it was a great opportunity to recognize the Jr. B organization for their 29 years,” he said.
“I’ve always thought about tying my tournament into the Jr. B history somehow, and I thought the Paugan Falls connection to the Jr. B and to the community was a great opportunity to have an evening.”
Members of the team’s roster, staff and ownership from across its 29 years were on the ice before the game for a ceremonial puck drop, and they unveiled a banner recognizing the team.
Findlay also prepared a slideshow full of photos from the Pontiacs’ 29-year history, and set up a table displaying trophies, jackets and jerseys.
Former Shawvile mayor Albert Armstrong, who was also a member of the team’s executive when it first entered the league, said he appreciated the effort to honour this slice of Shawville’s history.
“It brought back a lot of good memories, for the team and for the community and for the players,” he said, adding that he chatted with several of the former players who attended the game.
“It was all certainly great moments, from the very beginning to get to see the team get organized, to finally when we decided that we no longer could afford to keep the team going.”
The Fish Findlay tournament itself was a bit different this year. Instead of its usual 3-on-3 format, Darcy switched it to a more traditional 5-on-5 competition.
“The excitement of 3-on-3, it’s not quite what it was. [The players] were getting a bit older, and it’s harder to find teams as well,” Darcy said, adding that even still the arena schedule was packed for the three-day tournament.
There were 10 teams in the open division, which was won by Logs End, and three teams in the 40-plus division, won by Napa Auto.
Eric Barber, who was a member of the winning Logs End team this weekend and was a member of the Shawville Jr. B during the mid-2000s, said it was nice to be able to win the tournament in Fish’s memory.
“Fish was a mainstay in the rink when I was a kid at that Jr. B door,” he said, adding that he saw Darcy put in a lot of work into the tournament.
“Good on Darcy for doing it. He put a bunch of work into it and hammered it out,” Barber said.
Shawville’s weekend in hockey heaven was capped off with a Comets victory, as the home team defeated its Quebec rival by a score of 5-3.
The Comets’ Alexandre Landreville was the game’s first star, notching four points, and Jonathan Bourcier’s five points earned him a nod for second star.
