Longtime Terriers equipment manager was the ‘glue’ who kept it all together By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, May. 12, 2020 Last Modified: 10:36 PM CDT Wednesday, May. 13, 2020 Updates

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Geno Romanow had a curious approach to retirement.

After quitting his day job in 1997, he continued working for years in his dream job, equipment manager with the Portage Terriers.

When he died last week at 78, he had served in that role with the Terriers for an uninterrupted stretch of 45 years, the last three decades of which he was also the trainer for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League franchise.

Romanow was the club’s steadying force through lean years and seasons of great success, which included 10 league titles and a national Junior A championship in 2014-15.

“I’ve told people over the last few days that he was kinda the glue that held everything together,” said defenceman Lane Taylor, who put the wraps on a four-year career with his hometown team earlier this spring. “He was there for so many years and he had a huge impact on every single person that walked through that door, especially little life lessons or telling stories.

“He was almost like another grandpa in a way. Geno was awesome that way. He always had time for everybody. He had a heart of gold and he would help anybody that needed it. If all you needed was to shoot the s— and talk, he’d be there for that.”

Tanner Jago, who captained the RBC Cup-winning team in 2015, appreciated Romanow’s understated but humorous takes on life.

“He was an easy-going guy but loved to joke around and give the guys a hard time for sure,” said Jago. “I know everyone made frequent stops in his office, whether it was just to solve the world’s problems or have a cup of coffee.”

Romanow’s wisdom carried great weight in the inner sanctum of the dressing room.

“He held you accountable, more than anything,” said Taylor. “If you told him you were going to do something, he’d expect to do it… It was always in a positive way. That’s the best way to explain how he had an impact on me, he would hold me to be accountable for things, teach me to be patient. Life lessons within a hockey team. It wasn’t just about him being the equipment manager and trainer. It was a lot more.”

Born in Canora, Sask., in 1941, Romanow moved to Dauphin in his youth. Never having played the game, Geno developed an appreciation for hockey during the Terriers’ magical run to a Centennial Cup title in 1972-73.

Employed by TransCanada PipeLines at the time, Geno decided to moonlight as an equipment manager for the Portage Jr. B team in ’73-74 before joining the MJHL’s Terriers in ’74-75.

Lisa Romanow remembers her dad’s dedication as he juggled his day job with his passion for the game.

“He would get up in the morning and go to work at the station, come home, have some supper and go to the rink for the evening and come home and do that every single day,” said Lisa Romanow. “On the weekend, he was at the rink basically all day.”

“He was there for so many years and he had a huge impact on every single person that walked through that door, especially little life lessons or telling stories.” – Defenceman Lane Taylor

In 1997, Geno retired from TransCanada but kept his winter gig with the Terriers while also taking a summertime job cutting grass at the Portage Golf Club.

Kolton Shindle, a forward who recently completed his second season with the Terriers, said Romanow’s enthusiasm for his work and track record gave him a lot of credibility.

“He was more of a listener,” said Shindle, whose dad Garth was a goaltender for the Terriers in the mid-’90s. “He would listen to anyone’s problems. He would talk, he would be there when you needed him. You knew you could always trust him. Doing that made him a great role model.”

Four years ago, Geno was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but continued on the job.

Lisa said her dad was planning to return again this fall and made a recent trip to the club’s Stride Place dressing room to do some work after the season was cut short by the COVID-19 crisis.

Geno was hospitalized on May 3 after suffering a stroke and died on May 8, four days after his 57th wedding anniversary.

He is survived by his wife Diane, daughter Lisa and son Randy. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, no public memorial service has been planned, but the family will conduct a small private ceremony in the coming days.

“I tell you what, that man deserves the biggest ceremony and appreciation of life of anybody around Portage and I can tell you that people would come from all over to celebrate Geno’s legacy,” said Taylor. “So when things get back to normal, there definitely needs to be a big celebration for him.”

Lisa said she has consulted with GM and head coach Blake Spiller and a public celebration of her dad’s life is likely.

“Blake and I have talked, just briefly,” said Lisa. “And hopefully maybe the first game back. We just don’t know.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14

Mike Sawatzky
Reporter

Mike has been working on the Free Press sports desk since 2003.

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