Parkwood Hospital visit ties together veterans and junior hockey
Memorial Cup tourney starts tonight in London
By Mark
Schadenberg
LONDON –
If a portion of the 401 highway east of Toronto towards Trenton can
be re-named the Highway Of Heroes, the residents' portion of Parkwood
Hospital in London should be called the Hallways Of Heroes.
With the
2014 Memorial Cup hockey tournament in London, I was given a special
opportunity to attend a reception with Second World War veterans and
the Memorial Cup trophy at Parkwood on Thursday (May 15) morning.
The brief
ceremony - accompanied later by photos taken with the CHL
championship trophy for attendees – included the many veterans who
reside at Parkwood along with the three CHL league commissioners
(David Branch of the OHL was present) and Memorial Cup
(www.mastercardmemorialcup.ca)
chair Trevor Whiffen. Both Branch and Whiffen noted that respective
family members had served Canada overseas in the military.
My
invitation was courtesy of London Knights alumni chair and Rogers TV
commentator Rick Doyle and from long-time Parkwood employee / RN
Janice Norris.
It was a
humbling experience to witness a large group of veterans – all
Canadian heroes and certainly hockey fans – be part of the
connection between the sport's most recognized to Canada's forces
past or present.
Branch,
who is also president of the CHL, spoke about the trophy's history as
it was dedicated in 1919 following the end of the First World War and
then re-dedicated as recently as 2010 to recognize, honour and
remember all Canadians who had represented our country in any
previous international conflict and killed in active duty.
The
Memorial Cup committee in London, explained Whiffen, has vowed to
raise a minimum of $50,000 for Parkwood through various charitable
ventures during the tourney.
This was not my first visit to Parkwood courtesy of Janice Norris as I had previously attended – 4 years ago – a Remembrance Day ceremony at the hospital / residence (Janice told me there are over 200 patients at Parkwood currently and naturally many more out-patients who visit for physio and other appointments) on the southeast corner of Wellington and Commissioners in London. I regularly attend the Woodstock cenotaph on Nov. 11, but the privilege to spend time at Parkwood on that solemn day leaves an indelible mark with me.
This was not my first visit to Parkwood courtesy of Janice Norris as I had previously attended – 4 years ago – a Remembrance Day ceremony at the hospital / residence (Janice told me there are over 200 patients at Parkwood currently and naturally many more out-patients who visit for physio and other appointments) on the southeast corner of Wellington and Commissioners in London. I regularly attend the Woodstock cenotaph on Nov. 11, but the privilege to spend time at Parkwood on that solemn day leaves an indelible mark with me.
Little did
I know that very same day, as I did not inquire which room
Woodstock's POW survivor Ed Bennett resided in, the remarkable life
of Mr Bennett also ended that day, passing away at the age of 97 on
Remembrance Day. Edwin Bennett was a giant in Woodstock – a hero is
an understatement as Bennett was a great citizen as athlete,
volunteer, philanthropist, historian, and organizer with a brilliant
mind and the ability to truly love his community and country.
Hockey &
War Ties
Another
tie to hockey and war is the fact that the OHL most outstanding
player (Voted on by OHL media members, including myself) every season
is recognized with the Red Tilson Trophy. Won this past season by
Maple Leafs prospect and OHL scoring champion Connor Brown of the
Erie Otters, this trophy was named for Red Tilson, who was a member
of the Oshawa Generals and killed in 1945 during the Second World
War. Tilson would have become a NHL star as he led the OHL in scoring
with Oshawa in 1942-43 with 57 points before his club lost to
Winnipeg in the Memorial Cup final.
From
www.oshawagenerals.com
Following
that season, Tilson, with what looked like a long promising career in
hockey ahead of him, enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces. In
October 1944, Tilson was killed in action in Holland. The Generals
have won four Memorial Cups and have produced hundreds of players who
have gone on to careers in pro hockey, many of them in the Hockey
Hall of Fame. But, the honour of the first banner going up in the new
arena was reserved for Tilson, with his number 9 being raised to the
roof before the November 12th, 2006 game.
A
very special ceremony was held before the game to honour all of
Canada’s veterans on the day after Remembrance Day, with Tilson’s
banner being raised at its conclusion.
Highway Of Heroes
By the way, The Trews
(Highway Of Heroes – song) will be part of the Memorial Cup as
well, performing (today) on Friday, May 16 during the first game of
the 4-team tournament – London versus Val D'Or - and post-game
outside in the beer garden.
I'm not penning this to
promote the best junior hockey teams in the CHL as they vie for the
CHL title for 2014, but rather my genuine thoughts on service to our
country. Both my parents were born in Europe and immigrated to our
wonderful country after the Second World War.
As for the clubs
competing, I'm looking forward to Anthony Mantha of Val D'Or as he
has 81 goals in 81 games, including the playoffs. Mantha is also a
first-round pick of the Red Wings, and maybe most importantly led
Canada in scoring at the world juniors with five goals and six
assists.
The Guelph Storm is a
terrific hockey club and deserve to be OHL champions (52-12-2-2) as
they led the regular season and were 16-4 in their playoff run. The
Storm include several high-end players such as Scott Kosmachuk, Matt
Finn (Leafs prospect could be in NHL next year), Robby Fabbri (Should
be a top 10 pick in this year's draft), Jason Dicksinson, Brock
McGinn, Zack Mitchell, and were sparked by trade-deadline addition
Kerby Rychel who seemed to scorer every time Guelph needed a clutch
goal.
Edmonton Oil Kings
might be the team to beat with Curtis Lazar (Super prospect of Ottawa
Senators), Henrik Samuelsson, Brett Pollock, and Griffin Reinhart
(Islanders 4th overall pick). Lazar and Reinhart were also
Team Canada competitors at the world juniors.
MORE INFO & LINKS:
Wikipedia: Highway 401
On
August 24, 2007, the portion of the highway between Glen Miller Road
in Trenton and
the Don
Valley Parkway / Highway 404 Junction
in Toronto was designated the Highway
of Heroes,
as the road is travelled by funeral convoys for fallen Canadian
Forces personnel from CFB
Trenton to
the coroner's office in Toronto
London Health Sciences
Centre (LHSC):
www.sjhcfoundation.org.
Ed Bennett Links
YouTube Links
The Trews:
Parkwood Hospital:
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