By Julian Smith – London, Ont.
The Kinsmen Club of Saskatoon started a new Peewee hockey league in 1937. Saskatoon had just built the new arena rink located downtown, near the technical collegiate.
There were four teams, each named and dressed like four NHL teams: the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, and the New York Rangers.
In 1937, there were 13 public schools and four Catholic schools. The city was divided into four districts from which each team was selected. The Canadiens were comprised of boys from the Nutana district.
The Rangers were selected chiefly from the northern part of the city, the Maple Leafs from the eastern portion of the city, and the Detroit team was chosen from the west side, plus the four Catholic schools.
All of the equipment in the NHL team colours was supplied, except the skates. The league games were on Friday night in the new arena. The age limit was 10 to 13 years old.
Chance to play was a dream
Each team had four forward lines, plus four defensemen, two goalies, and a mascot. The fourth line on each team was called the Kid Line. To play in an indoor rink on artificial ice, and have NHL equipment for the games was a dream. And the Saskatoon Quakers senior team even played there!
Moreover, each player was given the name and number of one of the NHL players. On the Canadiens, the boy who had Aurele Joliat’s name would even wear a black baseball cap as Aurele did when playing. Needless to say, with only four teams, competition to catch a spot was great.
My cousin, Jerry Smith, and I were 10 years old. We were very small boys for our age. Nevertheless, we were doing well in the tryouts with the Canadiens.
It looked like we might get picked for the Kid Line, which was usually made up of the smallest and youngest players. However, in October I caught scarlet fever and that ended my hopes for making the team. Jerry continued on, but being so small, he became the team mascot for that year.
In January, my Uncle Jud told me that he’d arranged for me to have a second chance, a tryout with the Detroit team. All of the teams had an outdoor practice each week. I went with my uncle after supper to the open-air rink on the west side.
That evening, it was snowing and it was one of those beautiful, mild Christmas-like nights, with huge snowflakes falling softly through the lights surrounding the rink.
Big guys on the line
We arrived at the rink and uncle spoke to the coach, whom he seemed to know, and he introduced me. A practice was going on and I could see the players doing some line drills. The coach pointed to a particular Peewee line which seemed to have three pretty big guys on it.
He asked me if I thought I could skate with them. “They sure look good to me,” I said. I dressed and got out on the ice but felt lost among them. I didn’t make the Red Wing team that season.
Some years later I was reminiscing about that night and smiled as it dawned on me, the significance of the Peewee line that the coach had referred to. It was Gordie Howe, who played for the Detroit Red Wings; Gerald (Doc) Couture, of the Montreal Canadiens; and Johnny Leicester, of the Boston Bruins.
Jerry and I did make the Canadiens the following years. I later went on to play for the Regina Abbots and Regina Pats Juniors, the Quebec Aces, and Ryerson University in Toronto.
