ESTEVAN - The Estevan Bruins used their annual Sportsman’s Dinner on Thursday night to pay tribute to the team’s past.
Three Bruin alumni – defencemen Joe Watson and Brayden Pachal, and forward Alan May – spoke at the dinner. Approximately 450 tickets were sold.
Pachal, who made his NHL debut with the Vegas Golden Knights this season, played three regular season games and three more postseason contests with the Bruins during the 2014-15 season. He talked about the feeling of playing in Estevan when he was 15 and eventually making his NHL debut.
He admitted he was nervous when he suited up for Vegas against the Winnipeg Jets, but he was thrilled to play and have family and friends in attendance.
Watson was back in Estevan for the first time since 1999. His brother Glen was the head coach and GM of the Bruins team that won the SJHL title that year, and Watson came to Estevan in the summer of 1999 to play in a game.
Watson noted he was wearing the jacket from the Bruins team he played for in 1961, and it still fits.
“I found this jacket a month ago, maybe two months ago. We had a picture taken of it, and I wanted to honour Estevan, and I wanted to honour the great team that you had. This is where I got my start in 1961.”
When he arrived in 1960, there were 104 players trying out for four spots. He made the team, but was eventually sent down to North Battleford, where he won a championship.
Watson cracked the Bruins full-time in 1961.
“I played two years here for the Bruins, and the second year we won the league, and we went on to play the Edmonton Oil Kings for … supremacy in Western Canada to play for the Memorial Cup,” said Watson.
Edmonton beat Estevan in the final and went onto win the national title.
He took his experiences in Estevan and parlayed them into a great NHL career in which he won the Stanley Cup with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1974 and 1975, and played 835 NHL games.
Watson talked about the Flyers, the Stanley Cup championship teams, his friendship with hockey legends like Bobby Orr and Bobby Clarke, and the infamous game between the Flyers and the Soviet Red Army team in 1976, in which the Soviets left the ice partway through the game due to the Flyers’ physical play.
The Flyers became known as the Broad Street Bullies.
“People remember the Broad Street Bullies. Everyone remembers the Bullies. The Bullies are very popular, it’s an iconic name,” said Watson. “It always will be a big name in sports, especially in the NHL.”
He said he loves coming back to Estevan and seeing people he hasn’t seen for a long time. He spent several days in the city for the Centennial Cup, presented by Tim Hortons.
Watson said the loved the old Civic Auditorium and he marvelled at the Bruins’ 11-year-old home, Affinity Place. And he praised the community as well.
“I walked downtown today just to recollect my mind, of things I used to do and where I used to go shopping,” said Watson.
Watson noted he is in the midst of writing a book and they hope it will be available around Christmas time. He promised there would be a lot of good stories from on and off the ice.
May was the final speaker. The former NHL forward played for the Estevan Bruins from 1982-1985, winning an SJHL title with the Bruins in his final season. He was inducted into the SJHL Hall of Fame in 2013 for his play in Estevan.
He talked about his time with the Bruins and in the NHL. May reflected on some of the friendships he made, his time spent as a billet with Melodye and Bert Pierson, and people he met like the Sereggelas, Tom Moore and Barry O’Handley.
“The amount of volunteerism, the passion for the community, the way you pull for this team [are great],” said May.
He came to Estevan after he was cut by the Brandon Wheat Kings. He fought as much as possible during his first Bruin camp.
Without his time in Estevan, May doubts he would have made it to the NHL.
May praised his coach in Estevan, Gerry James, saying James was ahead of his time. After leaving Estevan, May joined the New Westminster Bruins of the Western Hockey League, who were led by former Estevan resident Ernie (Punch) McLean.
He has remained close with McLean.
“Even though I’m a broadcaster now, I go around the arena and he introduces me to everyone, and says ‘This is the most stubborn kid I ever knew. He never listens to a word I said and I love him to death,’” said May.
May went on to play 393 games in the NHL, recording 31 goals and 76 points to go with 1,348 penalty minutes with five different organizations.
May was substituting for TSN hockey analyst Craig Button, who had to withdraw at the last minute. And Pachal had to fill in for former Bruin Mike Butters, who was also supposed to appear.
Rod Pedersen was the MC for the event.
