They are the standard by whom all others are measured. They have earned their place in time as the best of the best that will eventually be enshrined in a place reserved for those who have achieved the pinnacle in their sport, the Hall of Fame. They are the legends of the game.
Ball hockey, a fun and relatively unstructured activity played by children with little or no equipment on neighborhood streets, began to establish itself as a viable sport organization in the middle 1970s. There were thousands of players, who all graduated from the rough asphalt surfaces to smooth concrete arena floors, that helped to foster the growth and development of the game into a formal association with a governing body and championship competition at all levels of participation. There were some among those pioneers of the pavement whose skill, achievements and longevity in the game placed them in a class all by themselves .
The Goaltenders
The O.B.H.A. goaltenders, like legendary puck stoppers Glenn Hall, Jacques Plante and Terry Sawchuk who adorn Hockeys Hall of Fame, are represented by the finest ball stoppers that the game has ever seen in Dana Carnegie (Brampton Midnight Express) and Bruno Pullara (Fernview Rangers) respectively. They were the foundation and played an integral part in the success and achievements of their teams throughout the years.
The Ministers of Defence
Canadian defensive legends such as Raymond Bourque, Paul Coffey Brad Park, Serge Savard, Larry Robinson and the irreplaceable number four Robert Gordon Orr, who revolutionized how the game was played at the point position, set the standard for rearguards in the N.H.L. So too did this dime of defenders that stood tall on the floating blue line in the Ontario Ball Hockey Association over the past thirty eight years.
Hugh Baird (Budget Wildcats), Terry Griffiths (Midnight Express), James Mentis (Midnight Express) and Jon Pickering (Midas Topguns)
The Fabulous Forwards
When one considers the foray of fabulous forwards that skiddadled into the neutral zone and knifed their way over the blue line before letting go of a cannonating drive on net, there was a special group of players that comes to mind.
There was Mr. Hockey who was the consummate all-around player who dominated the game like no one else. The Rocket, who was a fierce competitor and the first player to score fifty goals. Le Gros Bill, who was the class of the league and to this day remains an ambassador of the game. The Golden Jet, who had speed, skill and power with one the hardest slap shots in hockey. The Big M. He was a Calder Trophy winner and a fifteen time all star. There was The Flower who electrified the fans when he flew down the wing and unleashed his big shot. The Kings King, who posted eight 100 point seasons in Lotus Land. Trots, who was the quintessential two-way player that played 18 seasons on the Island alongside the most gentlemanly right wing sniper of all time. And lest not forget The Great One. The scrawny little kid from Brantford, Ontario, who rewrote the record book and became the most heralded player in league history.
On the street, ball hockeys most ostensible offenders were indeed as unique, skilled and accomplished as the aforementioned heroes who played on frozen pads, only they wore sneakers and had to earn every inch of paved real estate on foot throughout their life span in the O.B.H.A.
The most outstanding forwards in the game of ball hockey over the past 38 years are:
Bill Armstrong (London Provincial Glass), Yvon Breton (Ottawa Senators), Dino Ciccerelli (Sarnia Wilding Doors), Tony Colucci (Maple Precast Eagles), Gus Kourousis (Fernview Rangers), Denis Lapensee (Ottawa Globe Trophy), Claudio Lessio (Midas Topguns), Robert Marchese (Midnight Express) and Robert Mentis (Midnight Express)
Congratulations to the Top 15 Players of the Past 38 Years in the Ontario Ball Hockey Association.