Michel Lavigne
Publisher
Barry’s Bay – This past Saturday afternoon local author Sean Conway held a book signing to debut his book about the MVDHS Wolves dating back to 1967 – 1972. Some forty invited guests were treated to a tasty luncheon before some speeches were made. The book is about the impact of a high school hockey team on the Madawaska Valley in the 1960s. At the Saturday event Conway said he got the idea of the book after they held a team reunion a couple of years ago. Sean Conway went on to tell a number of stories of the hockey team and stories about playing hockey at the Old Grey Lady. The arena was built in 1949 and cost thirty thousand dollars to build. Conway also mentioned a number of out-of-town hockey games they played against other high school hockey teams throughout Renfrew County. What’s interesting to note is that Sean Conway played goal in 1968 to 1970 with the Wolves. During the book signing event he invited Mayor David Shulist, John Yakabuski, Marie Villeneuve and Natalie Barrington from the library to say a few words.
Shulist spoke and said “On behalf of the township; we are so proud of Sean Conway for writing a book of our history”. Shulist jokingly said that Sean was inspired by Ken Dryden of the Montreal Canadians to become a goalie and just maybe Sean is our second national athlete of Canada. He also went on to be involved in politics. Shulist then read a message from the former coach Joe Drago. Joe said, “I still think about the reunion a couple of years ago and I look forward to reading the book and will cherish it for years to come.” Joe was the head of guidance at the school and a coach for the hockey team.
Sean took to the floor again and mentioned the book is not his book; it’s the community’s book. It’s about the twenty hockey players and let’s not forget Geoff Post who was vice principal at the school. He mentioned that the school was important to the area and talked more about getting other high schools involved in hockey. Conway mentioned that there was a lot of rivalry between the schools. Sean mentioned at one point that a lot of the players wanted to follow Rodney Schutt to the National Hockey League and mentioned that Ronnie Murray aka (Goldie Locks) really thought he would.
Next up to say a few words was John Yakabuski who of course cracked a few jokes and said my god you guys are old. John also told Conway when you say your book is 110 pages then add a few more. John said the school and the hockey team changed people’s lives. John said when the hockey team was growing the arena was packed on Sunday evenings. John also mentioned there were more people in the arena than people watching Bonanza on television. John said the hockey games electrified the fans. John had three brothers who played hockey and his father Paul always went to the Old Grey Lady on Sunday nights to watch his sons play hockey. John talked about all the fans that would travel on the bus to out of town games. John said back in the day there was a lot of teams in minor hockey. You’d have four peewee teams and nowadays you need four communities to get one team together. John thanked Sean for taking the time and energy to put together such a great book.
Marie Villeneuve told the audience that girls didn’t play organized hockey in the early 1970s. A Grade 10 student who wanted badly to play hockey, Villeneuve made a deal with the then school guidance counsellor Bill Houle, Sr. If she could get enough girls interested to form a team, Houle would put out a call to other schools to see if they were interested.
Using hand-me-down equipment, they played their first season on figure skates.
Winning just one game in their first season, 1973, the team continued to grow and in its second season, won that regional trophy.
“We packed the Old Grey Lady for every home game and all our hard work paid off.”
Villeneuve praised four current girls playing hockey who volunteered to serve the lunch on Saturday. Bella, Eveie, Sarah and Jordyn are living their hockey dreams just as those original Wolves and Wolverines teams did more than 50 years ago.
She said playing hockey was a real part of the girls’ lives.
Natalie Barrington from the Madawaska Valley Public Library thanked Sean for publishing the book and thanked him for his generous donation of the proceeds that will benefit the library.
In closing Sean talked about the last game he played with the Wolves in Deep River and he managed to get kicked out of the arena. He mentioned again the book is not about him but it’s about the players.
The proceeds of the book will benefit the Madawaska Valley Public Library and will be on sale at the library and Lorraine’s Pharmasave in Barry’s Bay.
With files from Robert Fisher
About the Author
