It鈥檚 been several decades since Ron Livingston has been to a junior hockey game.
After he sold the 91原创 Lords BCJHL team in 1977, he never did make it back to watch them play again.
But the impact the former Lords general manager made on the league in 91原创 forty years ago continues to be seen today.
Now operating as the 91原创 91原创 in the BCHL, it was by chance that the Lords came to 91原创 in the first place.
Livingston and his good friend Gil Lundihn originally ran a development team in Kerrisdale for the Vancouver Nationals, which played out of the Pacific Coliseum.
However, when the World Hockey Association was started and took over the Coliseum rink, the Nationals moved to Kamloops and became the Kamloops Chiefs in the Western Hockey League. It was at that time in 1973 that Livingston and Lundihn decided to 鈥渢ry out this junior hockey鈥� and move their team to 91原创 to play at the brand new Civic Centre rink (now called the George Preston Recreation Centre).
With Livingston as the GM and Lundihn as the head coach, the Lords were a tough sell to 91原创 residents at first.
No one wanted to pay to watch junior hockey.
In the summer months leading up to the Lords鈥� first season, they rented out the building on the corner of Fraser Highway and 56 Avenue (where Old Yale Bistro is located today) to promote the new team.
The only income they had for the Lords was from ticket sales and ads in their programs, so it was important to get the community on board.
Running a junior hockey club is very expensive,鈥� Livingston said.
Everything is supplied to the players and the equipment for junior players costs the same as it does for the pros.
In a recent conversation with past player Larry Playfair, who was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres, Livingston was amused to hear that the players all thought he and Lundihn were rich.
鈥淟arry said to me, 鈥業 always thought you and Gil were rich,鈥欌�� Livingston said.
鈥溾�橸ou had all these people in the stands and they were buying tickets. Then I got involved in junior hockey as an owner, and it鈥檚 a money pit. There鈥檚 no end to it.鈥欌��
The first season for the 91原创 Lords started in September 1973, but the Civic Centre wasn鈥檛 completed until December. That meant all of the first games and practices had to be played out of town and Livingston and Lundihn had no income in the first half of the season.
But luckily for them, 91原创 quickly fell in love with the Lords. With only a movie theatre and a drive-in offering entertainment to residents, junior hockey became a centre piece of the community, Livingston said.
They would get 800 to 900 fans every home game, which created a real buzz in the 1,400 seat Civic Centre.
鈥淥ne thing Gil and I prided ourselves in is that when we sold the hockey club we didn鈥檛 owe a cent to anyone,鈥� Livingston said. 鈥淚 live in 91原创, Gil lived in 91原创, and you can鈥檛 owe $10,000 to someone and walk past their store everyday. We would not have allowed that to happen, we would have borrowed money to pay them back if we had to.鈥�
Many of their players also went on to lead very successful hockey careers. About 99 per cent of their players were drafted, Livingston recalled. They didn鈥檛 necessarily make it to the big leagues, but they were given an opportunity to try, he said.
That includes players like Playfair, Barry Beck and Ryan Walter, who all had long NHL careers.
Walter won a Stanley Cup with Montreal.
鈥淔or many of the kids it was their first time away from home 鈥� many coming from communities like Fort St. James or Smithers,鈥� Livingston said.
It was important to help them excel in hockey, but it was equally important to inspire the kids to do well in school and in life away from the ice rink.
鈥淛unior hockey was an opportunity for young fellows to improve their hockey skills and hopefully make the pros,鈥� Livingston said.
鈥淏ut on the other end, for the people who run junior hockey clubs, we鈥檙e there for the kids 鈥� to help them excel in whatever endeavors they do.鈥�
鈥⑩赌⑩赌⑩赌⑩赌�
Many past Lords players and their families were in 91原创 on Sunday (Aug. 4) at a 40th anniversary celebration party at Livingston鈥檚 home.
