The Engleson Files

Wow. I have to admit that I have been very impressed by what I have seen so far out of the Vancouver Canucks. Now, I realize it is only one game, but after an impressive 5 and 1 pre-season record and a shellacking of Calgary, the Canucks are playing some pretty damn good hockey. I was very skeptical of their season this year and felt they did not have what is needed (especially up front) to be fully competitive; but my tone is softening somewhat. I still feel they will need to make some serious additions but what I have really liked so far is the tempo and style they have been playing. The days of the neutral zone trap seem to be gone and in exchange they are playing an up-tempo aggressive forecheck style of play, which GM Mike Gillis did promise. So, yes, still another 81 games to go but so far I like what I see out of the team and hope they can continue to play this more exciting brand of hockey from here on in. Go Canucks!

Tomorrow the puck officially drops for the 2008/09 NHL season. You’ve heard me say it before and I will say it again: hockey is the greatest game on earth and I absolutely love everything about it. There should be plenty of intrigue within the league and with the Canucks to keep me going, so without further adieu…let the games begin!

In the passing years after the historic Summit Series, the William’s Creek Hockey League flourished as teams from all over the central interior once again joined forces. The Barkerville Goldpanners continued their legacy of success by winning a record 23 championships before the league folded, again, this time in 1987 due to government cutbacks. But, with the inception of yet another league, the BCHP, professional hockey was once again re-kindled in Barkerville and the Goldpanners were, again, the hottest ticket in town. This time, teams from all over British Columbia were in: teams such as the Chetwynd Chiefs, Tumbler Ridge Typhoon, New Hazelton Banshees, Mackenzie Crushers, Burns Lake X-Men and the Williams Lake Stampeders would now all be vying for the prestigious “Joe McGrath Trophy” – hockey’s new golden chalice.

Early in the first year of the Engleson era were definitely times that everyone in the Goldpanners organization wishes to have back. The team was floundering hard, and many publicly voiced their concern that Engleson might be, in fact, in a little over his head. Pretty much everyone drafted just was not fitting in and the team lacked overall chemistry - the tradition was in question. But then came the news that shocked the community: “I guarantee that this team will win the “Joe McGrath Trophy” in three years. That is my word to you all,” announced Engleson at a press conference half way through the season. From that moment on, Engleson traded away all his high end talent and rebuilt the team through youth. The Goldpanners had a promising young center in Joe Thorton to build around, and from there the newly appointed manager just masterfully put the pieces together to compensate him. “It was easy, everyone thought I was a chump anyways, so the trades just came that much easier – little did they know,” Engleson stated with a wink. And true to his word, Engleson’s Goldpanners won the Joe McGrath Trophy in their third (and promised) year and then went on to repeat a year later – the BCHP’s first true dynasty.

In looking at the current squad of the Barkerville Goldpanners it is clear to see that Engleson is, once again, up to his old tricks. Last year, the Goldpanners found themselves, again, in last place, but to see the promising young talent currently assembled and proudly wearing the Goldpanners jersey clearly shows that this team will once again be on top. “Yes, I have guaranteed that I will win before the Bella Coola Thunderbirds, and, I will also win two-times before the River Rats even make the top three,” reaffirmed Engleson when discussing the future of this organization. “We are a community with a dream and an organization with a vision – no one can stop those forces. And I, whole-heartedly, continue to stand by my word.” In closing, the Goldpanners legacy is one that will always be measured by history itself; this is a team that has been around for a long time and has achieved a lot of success along the way. Players and builders come and go, but only the legends remain. Time will tell how Engleson’s legacy will be remembered alongside the other giants in this great organization, but one thing is clear, Engleson has proven his worth already and definitely looks to be on the right path for legendary status - yes, the Goldpanners tradition is in good hands in the Engleson era.

All through the Depression, life in Barkerville was dark and bleak, both economically and emotionally, and having no professional hockey just made the times seem tougher. Long after the days of the defunct Western Interior Hockey League, the Goldpanners once again looked within themselves to re-establish the amateur version of the William’s Creek Hockey League; but this time bringing a new team into the mix: the Wells Placer Miners. Just down the road from Barkerville, the new community sprang up with visions of grandeur that seemed all too familiar to those of Barkerville more than a half a century ago – and from that, a natural rivalry was born.

Harvey “Big Bomber” Jackson

The people of Wells did not approve of the condescending attitudes of those from Barkerville; and for the people of Barkerville, seeing the dawning of a new gold rush seemed very unlikely and completely naïve. So, a natural ideological hatred grew between the two communities: tradition vs. modernization. Sensing this, a new giant figurehead arose in Barkerville that knew there was only one way to settle this score once and for all - hockey. Harvey “Big Bomber” Jackson was born and raised in Barkerville and had a deep respect for the game and the Goldpanners tradition, and also desperately wanted to bring professional hockey back to the Barkerville area. So, as legend has it, during one of his weekly games of poker, Harvey “Big Bomber” Jackson laid down the ultimate bet to anyone willing to take it: an eight game summit series that would pit the best hockey players in Barkerville against the best in Wells. Silence filled the smoky room at J.T’s Saloon, but then, with one final draw on his cigar, Ted “Buster” Bradbury, a Wells resident and huge hockey fan, stood up and accepted the challenge and then upped the ante with a $2000 incentive bonus going to the winner. With a gentleman’s handshake, the two newly appointed managers played to see who would upfront that bonus money, and to see who would get to choose home ice advantage. It was the card game of all card games, and, in the end, after two grueling hours, Harvey “Big Bomber” Jackson laid down an ace-high royal flush (all in spades) to seal the deal. So it was set, four games in Barkerville, four games in Wells, equal salary caps and equal access to the open markets, and then, on November 14th, 1939, in Barkerville, the stage was set for the first game of hockey’s ultimate challenge.

Despite placing a solid team within the William’s Creek Hockey League for the previous four years, the Wells players were still relatively new to the game, even with the new recruits. Many of the players dabbled in hockey recreationally, but nothing to the scale they were going to be tested to in the Summit Series. The Goldpanners, on the other hand, knew they had a great team and also had history on their side. “This series will be no contest,” stated a very confident “Big Bomber” Jackson, “Wells won’t even win a game.” This arrogance from the makeshift manager infected the Goldpanners squad as they skated onto the ice for Game 1. And within the space of three hours, Barkerville’s hockey superiority had been collectively humbled beyond belief after a 6-3 routing by Bradbury’s Placer Miners. And it did not get any better in Game 2 where Barkerville once again found themselves on the wrong end of a 7-1 score. “We’re just not getting the bounces,” stated team goaltender “Fast” Eddy Steen. Game 3 saw the Goldpanners squeak out a last minute tie, but the team from Wells just seemed to control the entire game, and what was now looking like, the entire series. “These have been the darkest days for the Goldpanners,” exclaimed a devastated “Big Bomber” Jackson, “I don’t know what is going on here.” The fans from Barkerville fed off this and began to lash out at the Goldpanners booing them on site for Game 4, for their hockey esteem had been damaged beyond repair as well. As the game concluded, the Wells Placer Miners found themselves comfortably in the driver’s seat of the series with a 3-0-1 record; the Barkerville Goldpanners, in the first four games, had been outworked, outmuscled and simply outclassed; the Summit Series was looking as though it was over - but then stepped in the Goldpanners captain, #14, “Bad News” Gord Drillion.

Drillion fighting off a Wells player in Game #5. Many say he was a man possessed in the last four games of the series.

“To all the people in Barkerville: we are trying here, we’re giving it our best! This team (Wells) has done a lot of good work in this series and they should be commended, but to have our own fans boo us is an absolute disgrace. We are playing in this series for the love of Barkerville and for the love of the Goldpanners. I just can’t believe the people here have done this to us,” stated a dejected Drillion after Game 4. But after the dust settled, this moment was just what the Goldpanners needed. Games 5 through 8 were a complete turnaround and Barkerville won them all in convincing fashion. Drillion scored an amazing 16 points in the last four games to lead the overall series in points. “He was a man possessed,” stated an elated linemate, “Red” Hornby, after the series “our captain showed us the way.” When asked what caused the big turnaround, the captain had only this to say: “We had to win. This was more than just hockey here, this was the Goldpanners tradition at stake, and I wasn’t going to let my conscience be apart of a losing squad. Not in this series.” Returning home, the fans from Barkerville, while slightly embarrassed of their earlier display, treated their beloved Goldpanners as conquering heroes and littered the streets to cheer them on. No one cared about the ugliness that occurred earlier in this series, for now, the Goldpanners tradition was back on top of the hockey world and no one was going to take that away. Sadly, months later, Gord Drillion’s yellow Fairchild 18 two-seater plane went down somewhere over Bowron Lakes and was never found. High above the rafters in The Saloon today hangs Drillion’s number #14, which serves as a reminder to all the efforts, dedication and legacy of the great Goldpanners captain’s service to his team – he will never be forgotten.

#14 Gord Drillion (right hand side) one of the greatest Goldpanners to ever wear the jersey.

At the turn of the century, hockey in general, started to make great changes. The game itself was officially cemented into the collective conscience of the Canadian people, and with that, hockey began to grow into big business. Great players now became super-stars who had their faces forever immortalized on hockey cards and giant billboard posts. The game had been roofed and ruled, and the hierarchy of excellence, trophies, and teams truly began to develop – for this was the era of professionalism in hockey.

For the Barkerville Goldpanners, this was both good news and bad. It was good in the sense that it brought even more attention to the game, which, in turn, greatly elevated the level of competition. The William’s Creek Hockey League expanded into other communities in the central interior and was then renamed the Western Interior Hockey League, with the Goldpanners now being the only team from Barkerville competing. Gone were the days when any team could challenge for Lord Stanley’s prize, now teams had to be officially registered to qualify for the opportunity to compete. So with that, the Goldpanners seized this opportunity and became the powerhouse team in the newly developed league. In the first five years of the WIHL, the Goldpanners were champions five times, ironically, defeating a team from Bella Coola, who were then called the Northern Crosses, to claim their impressive fifth straight title in 1913. In many ways at this time, life was simply too good for the Barkerville Goldpanners.

But then Lester Patrick moved west and began cementing his plans for a new rival league down south – the Pacific Coast Hockey League. Teams such as the Victoria Aristocrats, the New Westminster Royals and Vancouver Millionaires began taking shape; and with that the big money now began to flow. Victoria housed the first indoor artificial rink in the Dominion that seated fifteen-thousand people. This luxury greatly damaged the fate of the WIHL, and the Barkerville Goldpanners, simply because the contracts signed up north could not compete with those offered down south. Therefore, many players from the WIHL traveled south to cash in on their fame and fortune and to have the opportunity to compete along side such icons as Fred “Cyclone” Taylor, thus killing hockey in the interior and dismantling the Barkerville Goldpanners professionally. Barkerville tried everything possible to join ranks with Patrick’s new league, but geographical logistics killed the negotiations before they had even begun. There would be many winters without professional hockey in Barkerville - until that one event, that one event when everything changed…

“I want to compile the best Barkerville has to offer and put them up against the best there is in hockey today. There is no doubt in my mind our boys here in Barkerville can go to Montreal and bring this cup back.” The Montreal Victorias were one of early hockey’s first dynasties, winning the Stanley Cup five times between 1893 and 1898, and, attempting to take the cup away from them was going to be an extremely tall order – but that did not sway Bain, in fact, it only made him more determined.

Now in his early sixties, Bain still had the same fire and passion for hockey as he did all those years ago on the Rideau Canal, and he meticulously molded the first ever “all-star elite” Barkerville Goldpanners into championship form. Then finally, on January 22nd, 1899, the Goldpanners set a trail to Montreal to play for Lord Stanley’s Dominion Challenge Cup. The team’s five week journey saw them travel by stagecoach down to New Westminster and then across Canada on the newly created Canadian Pacific Railway. But, tragically, just outside of Yale, the fate of the Goldpanners Stanley Cup run was changed forever. Inflicted with a dreaded bout of tuberculosis for quite some time (but never telling anyone), Bain’s lungs finally gave out and he died at the age of sixty-two. “We have lost our coach, mentor and father,” expressed a tearful “Newsy” Lacroix, “but we have to continue our journey – our goal isn’t done yet.”

So it was with weary bones and heavy hearts the Goldpanners set path to Montreal to play the powerhouse Victorias. Bain’s last words to his team were, “do this for me and for Barkerville.” And that they did. Once in Montreal, the Goldpanners played hard for the opening half of the first match, and were only trailing 3-1 at halftime. But in the second half all hell broke loose, with a stick swinging duel between Barkerville’s “Sureshot” Kennedy and Montreal’s Alf Moore, earning them each a fifteen minute banishment to cool down. That incident seemed to rattle the Goldpanners and when the match was over, Barkerville was on the wrong end of a 9-4 loss; and Game 2 was much the same losing 5-2 in a tough, hard fought battle. “We played as hard as we could for each other, for the people of Barkerville, and, for William Bain,” exclaimed Goldpanners goaltender Willy Drapeau. Though the Goldpanners were unsentimentally defeated by Montreal, their epic quest and desire to capture Lord Stanley’s silver chalice forged a legacy of greatness that has remained with this franchise a century later - the Goldpanners officially entered hockey’s ultimate lore.

A picture of Barkerville’s first ever hockey rink.

Life in Barkerville in the early 1880’s had calmed considerably due to the realization that the streets would never again be paved with the riches as it had been the past few years. From this, the consequent culling of the prospectors and dreamers brought order to the small town; and from that winter sports began to flourish. Since many of those who stayed behind still had “many good years left in them,” and the fact that winter lasted for six months in the high British Columbian interior, Barkerville was considered prime hockey territory.

Bain, being one of Barkerville’s leading citizens, constructed the first ever ice rink in 1883 and then established the William’s Creek Hockey League, which was comprised of four competing clubs: one from the North-west Mounted Police, one from the civil services, another from a group of merchants down in Stanley, and one from a group of prospectors in Francistown. As the years passed on and Bain’s dedication to hockey in Barkerville grew, the William’s Creek Hockey League began to produce some very excellent talent. Great players such as Mike “Sureshot” Kennedy, Archibald Martin, Albert “One-Eyed” McPhee and Norman “Newsy” Lacroix became household names. But none of them could even dream of what William James Bain–Overlander had up his sleeve next…

The Goldpanners first practice. Bain seen behind the net molding his team to perfection.

Around the same time of the great CPR railway, news started to travel more freely around the Dominion of Canada, and reports of a trophy back east began to filter into the lonely goldpanning town. “In the hopes of uniting this great land together, there shall be Challenge Cup established in this Dominion where teams from all over can be invited to compete.” These words were spoken, of course, by none other than Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley – Lord Stanley of Preston himself. And from this grand new trophy Bain began to compile his “all-star elite” team that would he would personally mold to one day travel the 6,000 kilometers across the country to challenge the mighty Montreal Victorias, the holders of Lord Stanley’s new cup – and thus the Barkerville Goldpanners were born.

Today I get to partake in the annual draft for my hockey pool that I have been involved with for the past 9 years. My team is called the Barkerville Goldpanners and above is the logo my team has adorned since day 1 - pretty spiffy, eh? Anyways, I am a 2-time champion in the pool and currently have the Goldpanners situated for another championship run. So, since the season is right around the corner I thought I would take some time to introduce to you to the team/organization as I see it in my head. I hope you enjoy

William Bain-Overlander, seen fifth from the left, is without question Barkerville’s founding father for the game of hockey.

Everyone knows what drove William James Alwyn Bain to the British Columbian interior during the fall months of 1860; but it is what made him stay in Barkerville that turned him into a legend. Though ice hockey itself has no prime owner, there is no question that William Bain-Overlander is the founding father of hockey in Barkerville, and, of course, his beloved Goldpanners.

Born December 18th, 1837, in Ottawa, Bain had inherited his father James’s speed-skating talents, honing them on the frozen Rideau Canal close to his home on Hollings Street. As a young child, Bain would spend hours perfecting his stride all the while dreaming of becoming the best speed skater the world has ever seen. Then, in the early part of the winter of 1850, Bain and a childhood friend saw a strange sight on the great canal that forever changed his life. “A couple of young men, both strangers to me, armed with curved sticks of more regularity in contour than the averaged improvised shinny club, were indulging in a good-natured contest for the possession of a dark, dish shaped object on the ice.” From that moment on, Bain dedicated his life to understanding, perfecting and succeeding at this great new game called hockey.

Armed with a B.A. in engineering from Dalhousie University, Bain was lured west by an itch for adventure and zeal for gold. The journey across the expansive frontier of Rupert’s Land took well over two months, but for Bain it only took one dip of the pan into William’s Creek for all that to be rewarded; and from there he became one of Canada’s most colorful swashbucklers and great hockey pioneers. Barkerville was alive and the streets were paved with gold, both literally and figuratively. Bain had made his first millions from prospecting, and then used all that money to expand his empire into what he truly cherished the most – hockey.

Well, the games have come to a close and it is safe to say that they were a huge success for all involved. I think China put on a hell of a show and have raised the standard for all to follow. As for Canada, I am very proud of our athletes performances in Beijing. For me, anyone who makes it to the Olympics is a very special person and from what I saw many of our athletes achieved personal bests and/or broke Canadian records while performing at the games - and really, what more can we ask for. I do not aspire to the ideal that “a 1000 silvers do not equate to one gold,” I am proud of every medal our athletes earned. With that said, it is clear that we still have a lot of work to do on the world stage, but for now, we should all celebrate our achievements and get ready to do it all again in Vancouver.

I just finished watching the Men’s triathlon race where Canada’s Simon Whitfield took the silver medal. It was an absolutely brilliant performance by Simon and I could not be any more proud of his outcome - his silver is a gold in my opinion! I watched this race with a little extra interest because last year during Magnus’s swim lessons at the Crystal Pool in Victoria Simon Whitfield was also there training for Beijing. Some days when I took Svea down to the pool he would come over after his swim and ask many questions about her. He had just recently had a child as well (or at least his wife did) and was very excited about sharing early child rearing stories; and when I told him that we lived in China it peaked more conversation as well (I would like to think my insider scoop(s) is what did it!) He was just such a nice guy and so sweet to Svea that it made such a huge impression on me. Congratulations Simon, you raced one hell of a race and have made us all very proud!

I saw a poll question the other day that asked the following: Who will win more medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics - Canada or Michael Phelps. I shudder to even think about the answer…

Wow. I just finished watching the medal round of the team Men’s gymnastics and I am simply at a loss for words. Now, I am certainly no expert on this sport but it was so obvious that the Chinese team was light years above everyone else in the field. Their control, precision, balance and skill was absolutely perfect and they nailed everything they did. Out of all the events I watched there was no one that was even close to them in their overall presentation. A most impressive and dominating performance indeed.

Yes, it was 20 years ago today when “the trade” shocked the hockey world and left all Canadians stunned and disheartened. Just months after winning their 4th Stanley Cup Wayne Gretzky was traded from the powerhouse Edmonton Oilers to the lowly Los Angeles Kings. Now, to Canadians this was like a dagger to the heart because we were sending our most beloved son down to the United States - for what was really just a cash transaction; nothing like this had ever happened on this scale in hockey before and it was difficult to understand what was going on. I remember the day precisely and, in looking back, there is no denying its impact on the game as a whole. This trade was a really big deal and it is amazing to see where the game has gone since then. Wayne Gretzky is still the greatest hockey player ever and it is unlikely that I will ever see another surpass the standard he set.

Click here for a video scoop of the big trade…