Making hockey a labour of love

Bangs game for senior recreational league

by Harry Gallon

It is 10:55 p.m. on a Monday night. I’d rather be flat on my back in bed than sitting on a bench in a dressing room. I’m tired and sore and the alarm rings early after a late game and a few pops.

The door swings open and in walks Peter Bangs. He has a binder full of game sheets, statistics, medical forms and assorted documents in one arm; in the other is a white C.C.M. helmet he wears in the time-keepers box.

“How are you fellows tonight?” he asks with an easy smile. Mr. Bangs is 69-years old and retired. He has five children and five grandchildren with another on the way. Mr. Bangs has liaised with the West End Hockey League to book ice-time, arranged insurance through the Canadian Hockey Association, coordinated the refereeing, registered the teams, scheduled the games, scored and timed the games and kept statistics.

His time and effort make it possible for our team of washed-up middle-age men to battle a younger team of never-been’s one hour a week.

The Senior Adult Recreational Division of the West End Hockey League has existed for 20 years, in a variety of incarnations. The league has grown and evolved since its inception: the only constant has been Mr. Bangs.

“He dedicates 10-15 hours a week so 150 guys can keep their hockey dreams alive,” says Paul Gasperetti, a 13-year veteran of 7-time league champion Stars. “And he doesn’t put a single penny into his own pocket: no other men’s league in Ottawa can say that. He goes the extra distance by organizing an awards banquet every year, including team and individual player awards. Without Mr. Bangs, the league would not exist.”

The league evolved from the dissolution of the Major Juvenile division, open to 19-20 year olds. The division folded in 1985 and the players had no league to play in.

“The guys still wanted to play,” says Mr. Bangs, who coached in the Juvenile division from 1978 to 1985. His teams won league titles in 1982 and 1985. “By then I was hooked: by running the league and watching the hockey. I have also developed friendships with players on the teams and am occasionally involved in their social affairs.”

The division began with one team from Canterbury and two from Bel-Air. In 1990, it was renamed the Senior Adult Recreational Division. Today the league host’s eight teams, and last year had 10 teams. The non-contact division games are played at Dulude Arena on Clyde Avenue.

“Maybe I’m reliving my life as I never played organized hockey,” says Mr. Bangs. “I played on the ponds and backyard rinks with my friends. We would play until it got dark, then go home for supper. It was a great time. I didn’t want to see the league die.”

Mr. Bangs is the son of a railroad man and moved often in his youth.  He was born in Sudbury, and moved to Farnham, Quebec, on the south shore of Montreal. He completed his elementary school in Farnham, attended high school in Montreal and completed grade 13 in Smith Falls, Ontario. He moved to Toronto, graduated from the University of Toronto, St. Michael’s College and received his teaching certificate from the Ontario College of Education. He met his wife Lynne in Winnipeg and they have lived in Ottawa since 1961. They have four children: Bob, 41, Joanne, 40, Peter, 39 and Paul, 34. Mr. Bangs taught history, geography and family studies at Glebe Collegiate for 33 years and retired in 1994.

He has always participated in sport in some capacity.

“As far back as I can remember, Dad has always been involved in minor hockey,” says Peter Junior, the only player to have played every season in the West End League. “All three of his boys played hockey and Dad coached all of them at some point. He loves hockey and spends as much time as he can helping out.”

Mr. Bangs played intramural basketball, hockey and volleyball in high school and university. “And I read a lot about sports,” he says. “The first play-off game I ever saw was in the mid-1940s in Detroit. It was a Tigers game. I am still a fan of Detroit teams to this day.”

Mr. Bangs has been a highly visible member of the community for many years. He managed teams in the old Bel-Air Outdoor League and also managed minor, major and senior teams in Carlingwood Little League Baseball. And as director of the bantam and juvenile divisions, he was watching 200 games a year and “drinking lots of coffee.”

He also volunteers for the Food Bank through St. Basil’s Catholic Church and picks up and delivers food to the needy. He is a member of the St. Basils Pastoral Council, captains for the Kidney Foundation of Canada and works on behalf of Amnesty International.

“I write letters to save prisoners from being executed in the United States,” Bangs says. “I write governors and various councils. I don’t believe in capital punishment: some people may not like that but that is how I feel.”

Bangs “retired” as convener of the Senior Adult Recreational Division two years ago. But he still shows up at Dulude Arena every Monday and Thursday night, binder under one arm, helmet under the other. He still scores and times the games but has delegated some of the responsibilities of running a league to others.

“I did find things in my life getting a little hectic,” he says. “There are other things to do with my life in retirement. A lot of work is involved running a league but I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t enjoy it.”

His wife Lynne, a colourful presence at the leagues end of year banquet, says she is “very proud” of her husband’s involvement in the community.

“He gives of himself and his time because he wants to,” she says. “He has always been very active in the community and church and got our kids involved in sports from a very early age. Now that our kids are all grown up, he keeps busy by taking care of a group of older kids!”