Senior hockey league honours 90-year-old Sask. hockey player

It was an unusual sight to see, row upon row of cars filling the parking lot of the Schroh Arena in Saskatoon for a noon-hour rec hockey game. But it was a special day as the only remaining member of the original Saskatoon Sixty Plus Hockey League was celebrating his 90th birthday.

“They started with 26 guys at the old barn,” said Ken Crump, president of the Saskatoon Sixty Plus Hockey League. “It grew to four teams, and now look what it’s gone to. 350 [players] and we’re turning guys away.”

Stan Halliwell and Reg Morrison met while playing in a 50-plus hockey league, but they realized they didn’t like playing late at night, and the game was getting a little fast.

“Ice is available in the morning, our guys are all retired, so let’s play hockey during the day,” said Halliwell, who grew up in view of the outdoor rink in Pleasant Hill.

So he and Morrison started the league with the hopes of continuing to be active, play hockey, have fun, and share some laughs in the dressing room.

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But as the years wore on, the value of the dressing room camaraderie became as valuable as the on-ice component, if not more.

“Half of it is in the ice, the other half is in the dressing room,” said Halliwell. “Over the years I’ve met so many people that I’d never have met otherwise, from all walks of life.”

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the league is the giant dressing room that all the teams share, complete with their own stalls and all the amenities. It was recently expanded to hold a total of 155 stalls, with the overflow players using the visitor dressing rooms.

Crump says it’s the conversations in the dressing room that become a type of therapy for the players, whether it’s keeping them laughing or discussing difficult or sensitive subjects.

“There’s a lot of guys in this league that have lost their wives, and they need the out,” Crump told CTV News. “This is a great place to come and visit the guys, share stories, and have a good time. It’s more than a hockey league.”

While she was heavily involved in the league over the years from game scheduling to planning parties, wife Laurette Halliwell says she doesn’t come to many of the games in Saskatoon anymore.

While she does attend the bigger tournaments with Stan, she says the wives get as much benefit from a little peace and quiet as the husbands do at the rink.

“I think so,” said Halliwell with a laugh. “I think all the wives enjoy that one hour, or two hours every once in a while. He’s getting out with the guys, and that’s important in their lives.”

To celebrate their contributions to the league, the new dressing room addition is now the Stan Halliwell Wing, while the original room is named in honour of Reg Morrison, who passed away in 2018.

“For them to build this and start this, it’s huge,” said Crump. “And that’s why the big thank-you today. The big thank-you is a tribute to Stan being a co-founder and Reg.”

Since his teammates still pass him the puck at 90 years old, Halliwell says he’s going to keep playing the game he loves.