WORTH REPEATING: Sharing Winnie and Gully Matheson hockey stories

We continue to hear expressions of sorrow and remorse from friends and acquaintances of Brookfield’s Winnie and Gully Matheson.

The passing of Winston Parker Matheson, 82, took place December 15, 2023. It was only months earlier on June 20, 2023, that Gordon Everett Matheson, 80, passed away.

Winnie and Gully were all about family. The two brothers enjoyed outstanding careers, and they were generous supporters of church and community. Well known and well liked, Winnie and Gully were also exceptional hockey players.

Brookfield hockey

“Because of early hockey friendships, a love for the game is inevitable,” an author once wrote. “On a cold winter day in Brookfield during the early 1950s, a few of my hockey-friends and I stopped at the Brookfield Farmer’s Co-op (where MacQuarries Pharmasave is now located) as a meeting place and to warm up. Across the road at Geordie Hamilton’s Esso (now home of Randy Roop’s Service Centre Limited) Gully Matheson and a few more hockey friends gathered.

“I was excited ‘big-time’ as we seven, eight and nine-year-olds followed a plan and started the final leg of our journey towards ‘the marsh.’ We would continue walking west towards Pleasant Valley, just across the railroad tracks was our arena. With hearts set on playing a game of marsh hockey, it mattered little that the temperature was about 15 below zero on the old scale.”

Each player carried his hockey stick and skates, a few had brought shinpads, a few guys wore ragged, old sweaters with NHL crests sewn on.

“It got more exciting when our eyes caught a glimpse of something up ahead of us. Ned and Phil Henderson, Charlie Hanman, Charlie Burnett, my brother Layton Carter, Kenny Retson, Winnie Matheson, and a couple other older players were decked out in hockey gear. They were carrying a hockey net and a home-made wooden scraper to clean off the ice. Brookfield Rural High School hockey coach Bill Sears was with the group, the school team was planning a practice.”

Some wonderful friendships began on that old marsh towards Pleasant Valley.

“The older guys had first choice on a section of ice, our group was careful to find a spot that was kind of out of their way. Gully and Donald “Boots” Boutilier were our captains and leaders, Dave Fisher, Bryan “Bung” Watson, Wayne Locke, Robert Beazley, Billy Paul, Vaughan “Gab” Matheson, and a few others, we were happy to be included. When the older guys were not playing, Winnie Matheson would join our group, adding a lot of enthusiasm.”

Encouragement

Winnie and Gully often took the time to encourage the younger and less experienced players, of which I was one.

“Really, I was just learning to skate. A pat on the shoulder here or there, a few encouraging words from Winnie and Gully, meant a lot. We young players weren’t pretty, but we wanted to play.”

And within a few years – a number of these marsh players had taken their hockey dreams all the way to Truro to an old barn-style building located just off Queen Street. Although not a state-of-the-art arena, it became so familiar and friendly to many young players, that it was like a second home.

“My first visits to the Truro Forum were during the 1951-52 hockey season which saw the Truro District Hockey League play three games a night, a couple days a week. When Brookfield Elks played, my friends from the marsh and I watched closely, we were also interested in teams with names like Bible Hill Dairymen, Lower Onslow Tom Cats, Hilden Owls, and Shubenacadie Lions.

“Coming later, in 1953, getting to play organized hockey at the Forum had arrived. I still recall playing my first indoor hockey with guys nicknamed Gully, Boots, Bung, Benge, Beaze, Skipper and Wee Willy. Our first hockey coach was Rev. John Henderson, the United Church minister. Our team came about because of an organization within the United Church of Canada at the time, Tyros. Proudly wearing jerseys crested Brookfield Tyros, we played in a Truro church league.”

Regarding Winnie, Gully and me, and our early hockey teams, as Winnie was slightly older, he usually played in a higher league. The one exception was the 1956-57 season when we three played together for the Brookfield high school team. Gully and I were always teammates up through church and high school hockey, eventually, we got to play with Winnie and the Elks in the district league.

“Winnie and Gully were both outstanding team players, they were encouragers! Winnie’s trademark – he was always in top condition; he was a strong and a tremendously fast skater. Winnie also had a powerful slapshot. Gully was a real team-leader, he captained several hockey teams. Gully was an outstanding playmaker; a dangerous scorer – he had a real knack for tucking pucks behind goaltenders. What great guys to be on a hockey team with.”

Memories

A memorable hockey adventure involving Winnie and Gully comes to mind, mention of the story in recent years had the two brothers in laughter.

Thanks to Don Henderson and the Brookfield Athletic Association – six young players attended the New York Rangers Hockey School in Kentville during the summer of 1957. Transportation daily to and from the Valley was provided. The group included Winnie, Gully, Dave Fisher, David Benjamen, Bung Watson, and I.

“Returning home to Brookfield from Kentville one day following hockey school, an incident took place when crossing over the steel bridge at Gaspereau River. On a dare, one of ‘we players’ attempted to throw an empty Pepsi bottle through the bridge opening while the car was crossing over. It was a bad decision for many reasons; the bottle struck a steel supporting rail and small pieces of glass flew back into the car.

“The driver, Mr. Sesso Crouse, was furious, he immediately slowed the car down and pulled it over to the side of the road. We were ordered to clean his car thoroughly. For 25 minutes the cleaning went well, then someone snickered, and an upset Sesso quickly debated leaving the ‘guilty one’ on the side of the road.”

A word about an outstanding hockey photo. The Matheson brothers hockey photo of John, Hughie, Winnie, Gully and Gab, and their father Tom, ran in the Truro Daily News in 1966 when Brookfield Elks won the Nova Scotia Intermediate A Hockey Championship. A historic photo, it gives a person a good feeling – to get to study it again after so many years. Our thanks to Brookfield sports historian and researcher Nancy VanTassell for providing the Matheson brothers hockey photo. And a big thank you to Ted Dykeman and Bryan Davey at ASE Print in Bible Hill for restoration of the photo.

A friendly reminder.

Continue sharing Winnie and Gully Matheson hockey stories…

Worth Repeating is a bi-weekly column touching on stories from the past, life experiences and events from the present day. If you have a column idea, contact Lyle at 902 673-2857.