They came from Canada, they arrived from over the Border, others travelled via the Forth Bridge from Fife and beyond. They homed in on Murrayfield Ice Rink, now Arena.
Why? To celebrate their combined love of ice hockey, the world’s fastest team sport.
It was called Gathering Sticks and was to honour the past. Hall of Fame members, fans, former rinkside support staff, team and supporters club officials, plus ex-players made the journey along with relatives, They were from several eras. They all had stories to tell.
Yes, the years have taken their toll. A few grey hairs, some not so sprightly as they once were, but the wit was razor-sharp and the memories flooded out during a few glorious hours.
Canadian-born Alex Dampier, nicknamed Damps, is now 75, jetted in from North America. The former coach of Murrayfield Racers, Britain’s best team at one time, and a club which dominated the Northern League from 1966 to 1982, was there.
Damps, who also iced for Cape Cod Cubs and Muskegon Mohawks during his playing career from 1972 to 1985, went on to coach Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers plus Newcastle Vipers and Great Britain before going home to Canada.
The former British Ice Hockey Writers’ Coach of the Year has survived a health scare and now laces on his skates three times a week. Remarkable.
Peter Johnston, nicknamed Jonker, was also in attendance. He was one of the leading players of his time, icing for Durham Wasps and Great Britain during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The Wasps stalwart recounted former glory days, his strong Tyneside accent cutting through the hubbub.
The once fierce rivalries were put to bed years ago, now the ex-players, generally, are off-ice friends.
Derek Reilly, nicknamed Pecker, was also in attendance, along with Tony Hand, the first British player to be drafted by a National Hockey League (NHL) team when he was picked by Edmonton Oilers in 1986, and Paul Pentland, who played in defence for Murrayfield and Great Britain.
Reilly, incidentally, spent his entire, 20-year career between 1964 and 1984 with Murrayfield Racers and was a goal-scoring machine whose counters kept Murrayfield on top for many years. Reilly also played for Great Britain in three world championship events.
Pint-sized Duncan McIntyre, a former dental mechanic, and a good man to know if you were involved in the rough-tough world of ice hockey, now retired, was in the crowd, his pork-pie hat distinctive.
He still looked fit enough to play. In years gone by he was a key forward for Murrayfield Racers in the British Hockey League in the 1980s, helping his club compete at the top level of the sport in this country.
Dean Edmiston, a real character in his playing days, still swims 40 lengths a day and looked all the better for it. The 57-year-old, former Fife Flyers and Racers player, who also iced for Paisley Pirates, Peterborough Pirates, Medway Bears, and Newcastle Warriors as well as Edinburgh Capitals, even sported a tan, gathered on the Costa del Kirkcaldy, no doubt.
His former teammate, Steven Lynch, who recently coached Edinburgh Capitals to the Scottish Cup, and Scott Neil, once of Murrayfied and Sheffield Steelers, as well as Great Britain, and now part-owner of Murrayfield Ice Rink, were also in attendance along with Jock Hay, an Edinburgh-based, self-employed, taxi mechanic for years. His cutting wit is still there.
Freddie Wood, who scored seven goals in an 8-1 victory in Racers first recorded match against Ayr Bruins, recounted memories of those glory days, and, of course, there was Willie Clark.
The outstanding former Murrayfied Racers and Great Britain goaltender – his playing career extended from 1950 to 1976 – now has a pacemaker but he was not missing this occasion, despite being well into his 90s.
After hanging up his goalkeeping pads, Clark became an ice hockey administrator and managed Murrayfield Racers for a spell. He no longer runs a cattery, he regularly used to bears the scars from his four-legged, paying guests, but he remains sharp, and he swapped stories with the rest.
It was not just Murrayfied Racers supporters who were represented here. Joe Rowbotham and John Ross attended. Their club, Fife Flyers, have suffered in recent years, probably no more so than this season which finished with Britain’s oldest professional ice hockey club propping up the rest in the ten-strong Elite League.
Things have been tough on the ice and also off it as the new owners struggle to compete in Britain’s leading ice hockey division. The future is in doubt, according to insiders.
The organiser of the event was former Racers defenceman, Denis Clair. He’s now retired as a self-employed tyre and exhaust fitter and, sadly, Denis is not as fit as he used to be, but he worked tirelessly behind the scenes for months to bring this joyous event together.
Fife-based Clair’s aim was for attendees to celebrate the spirit of the game. It was not about winners and losers, it was about reconnecting with the past and about friendship, and about the lasting legacy of the sport. He achieved that in eight glorious hours.
ARCHIVE PICTURE: Denis Clair on the Murrayfield Racers bench.
TALKING HOCKEY: Denis Clair (right) relives old memories
COACH AND MANAGER: Alex Dampier (left) and Willie Clark.
TOGETHER AGAIN: Derek Reilly (left) and Tony Hand
OLD TIMES: Freddie Wood and Paul Pentland (right)
