Oldtimers: On the Road with the Legendary Heroes of Hockey

Bob Forsey is the education officer at the Newfoundland Museum in St.
John’s.

Gary Mason traveled with an National Hockey League (NHL) Oldtimers team
as it toured Canada in 2002, playing in arenas in Inuvik, Vancouver, Red
Deer, and numerous towns in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. Fans
crowded the arenas to cheer their heroes as they played local teams for
charitable causes. They lined up for autographed pictures of Bobby Hull,
Marcel Dionne, Daryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald, and Johnny Bower. They
relished their outstanding hockey skills and laughed at their pranks.

Oldtimers told Mason that today’s NHL requires players to train
year-round and play intense, high-calibre hockey at every game during a
long schedule and playoff run. Hockey, they concluded, is not fun for
today’s players because of these demands. Mason learned from playing
alongside Tiger Williams, Guy Lafleur, and the rest that what makes
hockey worthwhile—and what today’s NHL has lost—is the camaraderie
of the dressing room, with its pranks, jokes, stories, and shared good
times.

The author of this interesting and informative book is not optimistic
about the future of Oldtimers tours across Canada: today’s millionaire
players, he predicts, will be too busy managing their investment
portfolios during retirement to participate.