For the past 25 years, Robb Wilson has been finding his way back to Pembroke to participate in the Pembroke Lumber Kings alumni golf tournament. He’s never missed the event, an annual celebration of his playing days in the city that he has adopted as his second home.
Playing with the Lumber Kings in the mid to late 1970’s was both the best and worst of times for Wilson. He thrived under head coach Bryan Murray as the Lumber Kings made it all the way to the Centennial Cup Final in the spring of 1977 before being swept by the Prince Albert Raiders in the championship series, played entirely in Saskatchewan.
The disappointment for Wilson was separating his shoulder in game one of the final and being sidelined for the remainder of the series, but the tougher pill came following the 1978 season when the Kings lost to the Guelph Platers in the Centennial Cup playdowns and Murray was fired by the team. Wilson was loyal to Murray and did ‘t take the news well. He contemplated not returning to Pembroke, but when word broke that the Lumber Kings had hired former NHL bench boss Bep Guidolin, he returned for the 1978-79 season, his graduating year in his junior hockey career.
The season started well for Wilson. Guidolin named him the team captain, but only a few games in Guidolin left Pembroke to take a minor league coaching job in Philadelphia. It was all down hill from there. The team floundered. Players quit, others were suspended and there was a revolving door of coaches as wins were few and far between. Wilson paid the price. He was stripped of his captaincy.
It stung. Wilson was one of the top players on the team, a league all-star, believed he had the ability to lead the club and felt he had been loyal to the organization despite his disapproval of Murray’s firing. The Guidolin hiring had brought him back. No wonder. Only four years earlier, Guidolin had been coaching the Boston Bruins with Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito in the line-up and they had made it to the Stanley Cup Final, before losing in six games to the Philadelphia Flyers.
“That was a very tough year,” says Wilson, but decades later he looks back at his Lumber Kings experience as one of the greatest times of his life. Life-long friendships were formed and the alumni golf tournament has become one of the most important days of the year for him, the opportunity to re-connect with his teammates.
“We have a pact. Unless they put a lid on you, we all come back for the golf tournament,” quips Wilson who again joined former teammates Warnie Richardson, Danny Fridgen and Dale Wilson to form a golf team at a tournament that attracted 178 golfers, most of them former players.
Wilson has lived in Paris, Ontario for many years. It is more than a 5 hour drive to Pembroke, but every July, Wilson books his hotel room and spends some time in Hockey Town Canada. When the Kings season starts, he keeps tabs on how the club is doing, reaching out to people he knew when he played in the city or followers of the team who he has befriended, in part because of his yearly appearance at the golf tournament.
This year the tournament marked its silver anniversary and Wilson took it upon himself to present a customized paddle signed by several Lumber Kings alumni to tournament organizers Pat and Delores Hahn. Hahn was a sniper when he played with the Lumber Kings in the early 1970’s, scoring 69 goals in the historic 1972-73 season when the Kings lost only four games in the regular season.
But like Wilson’s experience in the Centennial Cup Final, Pembroke had to play the entire championship series in Western Canada and Hahn and his teammates lost to the Portage La Prairie Terriers four games to one. The franchise would have to wait until 2011 to win a national championship, and several of the players on that team were at this year’s golf tournament to celebrate 25 great years of bringing together players from one of the most historic junior hockey franchises in the country.
For Robb Wilson, being a Lumber Kings alumnus is something to be proud of. He has been an ambassador for the franchise, recruiting players to Pembroke and sharing how special the Pembroke Memorial Centre is and what it’s like to play in front of a rabid fan base if the team goes on a playoff run. In Wilson’s mind, the Lumber Kings brand, steeped in history and tradition, stands out as one of the best places to play junior hockey in Canada.
It may have been almost 50 years since he suited up for the Kings, but when he is around other alumni the memories come flooding back and Wilson loves hearing and sharing stories about the special place Pembroke holds in his heart. He’ll be back again next July, because staying connected with his alma mater is what matters. Lumber Kings hockey has bonded them for life.
