Remembering those we lost in 2022

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/01/2023 (617 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

To begin the new year, Memories of Sport wants to remember the sports athletes, builders, officials and volunteers who died during 2022. The best place to start is with individuals who were inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, with their year of induction noted, as well as the members of teams honoured by the Hall.

Gerry MacKay was inducted in 1990 as a baseball builder for his coaching in Brandon and at the national level, but he also was an outstanding player who played in the ManDak League, followed by several seasons in organized professional ball during the 1950s. In the 1990s, the Brandon resident skipped two provincial masters championship teams and was named an honorary life member of the Manitoba Curling Association in 2003.

In 1992, Evelyn (Wawryshyn) Moroz and Gladwyn Scott were inducted. Moroz was inducted as an athlete from baseball for playing six seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She was a softball player first with the CUAC Blues, was a track and field champion and also played for provincial champion basketball and hockey teams. You would need a full column to cover Scott’s accomplishments. It’s enough to say he served as president of both the provincial baseball and hockey associations and was inducted into the hall of fame for both sports plus the Manitoba High School Sports HOF and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Builder inductee Guy Simonis (1994) was the founding president of the Manitoba Amateur Sports Federation in 1969 and became the first director of sport for Manitoba in 1974. He was also involved in the introduction of water polo in the province. Harry Langford (2012) was called “the football player who got away.” An all-star lineman at Daniel McIntyre High School and with the junior Weston Wildcats, he then played with the Calgary Stampeders from 1950 to 1958. He was named right guard on the club’s 50-year all-star team. In 2015, Langford was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball HOF with his Rosedales junior team.

The football team members include Jim Van Pelt, who was a quarterback for the 1958 and 1959 Grey Cup champion Blue Bombers, defensive back and punt returner Henry Janzen, who played with the Bombers from 1959 to 1965, winning three Grey Cups, and lineman Rod Humenuik of the 1961 and 1962 Canadian championship teams. Jim Gregory was the offensive line coach for the 1984 champion Bombers.

Peter Watt played for the 1960-1962 St. Vital Bulldogs that won two Canadian intermediate championships and was the head coach of the 1968 and 1969 national senior champ Bulldogs. Journalist Bob (Doc) Holliday, who died on Dec. 28, was the publicist for the 1968 and ’69 Bulldogs. Doug Klippel and Gary Moore were members of the 1963 Canadian senior champion St. James Rams. John Davidson and John Shanski both played for the Canadian junior champion St. James Rods in 1961. Shanski was also a goalie for the Canadian University hockey champion Manitoba Bisons in 1965.

Joe Crozier was a MJHL all-star defenseman for the Brandon Wheat Kings, who lost an eight-game Canadian junior championship series to the Montreal Royals in 1949. Barry Cullen, Mike Nykoluk and Flin Flon-born Eric Nesterenko played for the Western Canada Hockey League champion Winnipeg Warriors in 1955-56. Larry Hillman played for the WHA champion Winnipeg Jets in 1975-76 and coached the 1977-78 champions. Scott Campbell helped the team win its final AVCO Cup in 1978-79.

A world-class paddler from Flin Flon, Gib McEachern was an integral member of the Manitoba team that won the cross-country Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant in 1967. John Kalinowski, who died on Dec. 11, was a left-handed pitcher for the Molson Canadians, who won the national men’s softball championship in 1967 and finished second in the world championship the next year.

In a second “Those we lost” column in January, Memories of Sport will recognize individuals inducted into specific sports halls of fame and others who contributed to sport in our province.