My New Hero: Memories of the Rink Rats

By Douglas Savage and John Davidson

This is a true story of our childhood recollection of the rink rats growing up from grade school and my eventual walk with greatness with Wayne Gretzky and the promise he made to me at the end of our forty-minute stroll in 1983 in Winnipeg.
The friendship and camaraderie that are forged that can become lifelong bonds.
This ongoing retroactive tale of the "hero," and the importance they have in our lives growing up and the age-old adage of never judging anyone until you walk a mile in their shoes is dramatically underscored.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Nov 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9781779411075

Book preview

Table of Contents

Introduction

Dedication

Chapter 1. Tabula Rasa

Chapter 2. Tres Hombres

Chapter 3. The Sneaks and Their Hideouts

Chapter 4. The Rink Rats

Chapter 5. The Jets

Chapter 6. The Oilers Owned the Jets

Chapter 7. Game Day

Chapter 8. Sticks

Chapter 9. The Sweater [99]

Chapter 10. Jets’ Office

Chapter 11. Spaghetti Night

Chapter 12. Busted!

Chapter 13. Bombers Games&Doubleheader Date

Chapter 14. The Interrogation & Knife-Point Robbery

Chapter 15. Winnipeg Warriors

Chapter 16. Golden Boy

Chapter 17. The Phantom: Mystery Solved!

Chapter 18. An Off Day Practice

Chapter 19. The Walk Begins

Chapter 20. The Walk: A True Sports Icon

Chapter 21. The Walk: My New Hero

Chapter 22. The Walk: The Promise (If We Win …)

Chapter 23. The Walk: Telling My Friends!

Chapter 24. Stick Day: Nerve-Wracking!

Chapter 25. Stick Day: What A Game!

Chapter 26. Stick Day: The Rat Scores!

Chapter 27. To Doug: Best Wishes, Wayne Gretzky!

Chapter 28. My Stick Was Stolen!

Chapter 29. The Second Stick

Chapter 30. The First Third Stick: I Failed!

Chapter 31. A Class Act

Chapter 32. Favourite Goals

Chapter 33. The Second Holy Grail

Chapter 34. The Second Third Stick: I Resisted!

Chapter 35. What A Fluke!

Chapter 36. Carlisle Fuels My Memories

Chapter 37. Staying Out All Night

Chapter 38. Carlisle Still Hates Gretzky!

Chapter 39. Games We Played and Invented

Chapter 40. Interesting Trivia

Chapter 41. Forces of Change

Chapter 42. Not the Same Anymore

Chapter 43. Epilogue

Chapter 44. Thank You, Shawn Chaulk

Chapter 45. Post Story

Chapter 46. In Memory of Jamie

Chapter 47. Found Long Lost Rink Buddy

Chapter 48. Score Sheet

Chapter 49. Jason and Morris Friendship

Chapter 50. Tuxedo Night & Whiteout

Introduction

This story chronicles the journey of a young Canadian boy, named Doug, going through his formative years in Winnipeg from 1969 to 1987. It’s an anecdotal autobiography based on recollections that he finally journalized circa 1999. From 2012 to present day, 2023, it was his dream to put his memories of a teenager’s life-changing experience into print. A collaboration with a co-writer eventually brought this to fruition when this book was published in the spring of 2014.

Many important themes intertwine throughout this tale. The wisdom of the axiom Don’t judge a book by its cover is dramatically underscored. The importance of childhood friendships and camaraderie that can become lifelong bonds. The universal experiences that shaped Canadian boys growing up in a hockey-dominated culture back then. The six degrees of separation is a theory repeatedly reinforced in a story full of ironies and coincidences that can’t help but make the reader chuckle.

However, the most important theme in this autobiography is the role of the so-called hockey hero and its impact (sometimes long-lasting) on young boys three or more decades ago. One that, thankfully, girls started to experience about twenty years ago when women’s hockey began to gain momentum.

This is a retroactive journal that has been crafted to appeal to a rainbow of potential readers: elementary and intermediate school students, teachers, librarians, parents, grandparents, friends, family, hockey players at all levels, NHLers, oldtimers, former rink rats, and hopefully you!

Dedication

My New Hero:

Is dedicated to the loving memory of both my late mother, Patricia, and stepdad, Joseph, for all their love and support.

In memory of Kary Franke, my first love and dearest friend.

Special recognition to Carlisle’s late father, Brian, for all the early-morning breakfasts and endless rides to all hockey games.

To my recently passed co-author and friend, John Davidson, for without his meticulous hard work and dedication, this book would still be a dream! Thanks JD!

Special appreciation to Shawn Chaulk for his invaluable pictures for the book and his continued insight and advice throughout.

Also, a hat tip to fellow rink rat Jason, who contributed the scoresheet and new insight into the Post Story.

Special recognition to my fur friend, Miley.

Last but not least, special acknowledgement to my sister, Shelley, her husband, Adam, my older brothers, Kenny and Kevin, and my youngest sibling, Bryan.

It has been an honour to write my memoirs of the Rats growing up in Winnipeg and my closest friends in Elmwood.

Chapter 1

Tabula Rasa

I was born on January 26, 1969, in the prairie town of Winnipeg, Manitoba. My family consisted of a hard-working mother and three elder siblings: Shelley (+8), Kenny (+6) and Kevin (+5). Bryan was born a year after me.

Like all children, I entered the world with a Tabula Rasa. I knew nothing about anything. Elvis? Marilyn Monroe? Gordie Howe? The Golden Jet? The Montreal Canadiens? Winnipeg Blue Bombers? Pierre Trudeau? Nixon? Beatles? Rolling Stones? NHL? WHA? Alberta Oilers? Jets? Hockey Night In Canada? The White Tornado? Tongues sticking to ice-cold metal!? Girls!?!?!?

I was unaware of an eight-year-old phenom that was going to impact my life just over a decade later.

Tabula Rasa: I have no recall as to when my interest in hockey emerged. Both my mother and my sister loathed sports. They have said on more than one occasion that they do nothing for me. We only had one television, so to watch a sporting event was a challenge. If there wasn’t something on that they wanted to view, my brothers and I got to enjoy the occasional game. To be honest, TV games weren’t super important, because my friends and I were too busy playing sports outside until dark. Going to the pro games made us feel so alive. That was our pure joy to see our heroes play in person.

Like most Canadian boys, we pretended to be our favourite stars when playing on the street, outdoor rinks, etc. We even did our own play by play commentaries. TV came a distant fourth.

Shelley moved out when I was about nine or ten. She had helped Mom take care of me and my three brothers until then.

My stepfather (Joe) showed up when I was four or five. He loved sports and, lucky for me, he made sure we got to see the important events, like Hockey Night in Canada, and international events like the ‘81 and ‘84 Canada Cups. These were a shared priority. He was more than a father to me until he passed away eight years ago.

My oldest brother, Ken, was always trying to be my father figure, because ours left us when I was one. He was very stern with me and my younger brother, Bryan. Some of the time, I hated it. However, I have some great memories. We used to love watching Hockey Night in Canada on TV on Saturday nights. It was a ritual that included chips, dip, and Pepsi. Ken was a ticket broker and often gave me tickets to CFL (Canadian Football League) and NHL (National Hockey League) games.

Photo of me in 1977 at the age of eight playing hockey in the Maples

Here’s a cool memory. I once came home after being beaten up during a hockey game. My brother immediately wanted to thump the thug and his entire family. Ken was always there as a protective big brother. I told him I had to take my lumps.

At times, he was also a good mentor.

A not so cool memory will be shared in the midsection of this memoir.

Another special memory was my brother, Kevin. He was my hero growing up. He was the one who taught me how to play sports, and I idolized him. We grew up in Weston, a suburb of Winnipeg, and I loved to watch him play football and hockey. He was always the M.V.P. in both sports. What a great athlete! How he didn’t play pro, I’ll never understand.

Once he played on my hockey team when I was six years old, and we won my first trophy. He was five years older than me, so I don’t know how he managed to play for us. We both received mini awards that seemed so big then! Around that time, my interest in hockey had really begun to blossom. I listened to the Winnipeg Jets on the radio, and I enjoyed using my imagination and hearing the enthusiasm in the voices of commentators.

When I was a preteen, Ken took me to a WHA (World Hockey Association) championship series game. The Jets won the AVCO Cup! My brother and I jumped on the ice to celebrate. A few years later, my elementary school principal treated me to my first NHL game at the arena! By then, I was hooked!

I actually got to skate at Winnipeg Arena twice! The second time was so memorable. Our school had a speed skating event. It was such a thrill to compete in that wonderful building!

Around the same time, I took Bryan to a Bombers’ game when the yearly Red River Exhibition was in full gear. We used paper route money to fund our forbidden journey. Mom was not too impressed with our bus trip over the river. Even though we had become hooked on the Bombers by then, we barely watched half the game. The lights, sounds, and activities of the midway seemed