Book examines Neepawa’s hockey heritage
- Details
- Published on Thursday, April 14, 2016
Photo by Eoin Devereux. Author Rick Sparling stands in front of some of Neepawa’s hockey history on display at the Yellowhead Centre with an advanced reading copy of his new book, Amateur Hockey in Neepawa: A Scrapbook.
By Eoin Devereux
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
The history of minor hockey in Neepawa is being explored in a new book. Rick Sparling, who previously authored The History of Public School Hockey in Neepawa, is researching a new work titled Amateur Hockey in Neepawa: A Scrapbook. The book, which is near completion, is filled with articles, photographs and stories about local teams, players and trophies from 1894 until 1989.
For Sparling, this exploration of Neepawa’s minor hockey heritage started from all the information he received while working on his other book.
“I started [The History of Public School Hockey in Neepawa] and ended up getting 150 pictures from various people that played in the system. From there, I got so many more stories and newspaper articles and things like that, [the book] ended up being about 300 pages and there was so much more to share,” noted Sparling. “This book will be approximately 700 pages and it’s everything that is related just with minor hockey in Neepawa. [The stories and pictures] came from little pieces and bits found in trunks and albums and storage places and pulls it all together into one place. It really is the history of hockey in Neepawa.”
Sparling said that gathering the information together has been a bit easier because of his experience of the first book and the contacts he made during that process. He added, however, that while it was a bit easier, it was still very time consuming.
“Right now, there are at least 500 hours of effort in this book, researching it, finding the information and it’s not finished yet,” said Sparling. “I’ve ended up contacting people and have been, for the most part, able to get every championship team that played in Neepawa. I have their pictures with their names in it, from the early 1900’s I guess, and up. There’s lots of newspaper clippings, trailing them from their first play-off game up until the final game. There are also stories. There’s going to be a lot more people mentioned in this book than in the first book.”
For those who were not a part of the Neepawa’s minor hockey history, Sparling stressed that there are still many unique stories that will keep them interested.
“There’s a few stories about people. Unique things like people sneaking into the rink on off days. There’s one story about Wilf Jackson playing in Altona and when he looked down in the box he was flabbergasted in what he saw there,” noted Sparling, with a chuckle. “It’s an amusing story that’s just one of the many anecdotes about all the adventures that come about.”
The search for some difficult to find information is ongoing for Sparling. He said there are a few specific items that are still being pursued
“One item we’re looking for is a picture of the 1953 Roxy team uniform. Those were sweaters donated by Roxy Hamilton. He lived in Winnipeg at that time, but kept track of Neepawa and ended up buying sweaters for a team after reading about how ratty and worn out they were. And they called [the hockey team] the Neepawa Roxys. More details of the story are in the book, but if someone has a picture, that’s one of the things I’m searching for,” said Sparling.
“There are also trophies that still need to be accounted for. The Clint Bennest Memorial Trophy for bantam B.B., the H. Mummery Memorial Trophy, which was for bantam A.B., the Toby Sexsmith memorial trophy for midget B. There’s the E.A Gilroy memorial trophy, which was for juvenile B and the McDiarmid Shield, that was the intermediate trophy. If anyone has details on tracking those items down or pictures, I’d like to talk with them.”
If anyone does have pictures or information related to minor hockey prior to 1989, or is simply interested in pre-ordering a copy of the book, they can contact Sparling via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . As for the official release of the book, Sparling expects that will occur later this year, a little closer to the start of the hockey season. Arrangements are being made to have a book launch at the Neepawa Public Library. The exact date and time will be announced later this year. The price tag for the book is estimated at $39.99, with all book sales profits going to the Beautiful Plains Museum in memory of the late Allan Drysdale.
