WHITBY -- The moist eyes gave it away: this meant a lot. The 50th anniversary of the Whitby Dunlops' 1958 world hockey championship was celebrated in style this past weekend, as 10 of the 13 surviving players joined team manager Wren Blair and hundreds of fans for a trip down memory lane.
When a new banner was raised commemorating the achievement Sunday at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre, exactly 50 years after the big win in Norway, more than a few eyes were welling up.
"This was a real tightly knit hockey club and the boys are still tightly knit," Bob Attersley explained afterward. "Those memories never go away. It's been such a great weekend to have them all back together again.
"After 50 years, it's been a long time, but the emotions are still there, the thoughts are still there and the great memories are still there," he added. "We're a pretty proud bunch."
As well they should be.
Although the focus over the years has come down to one defining moment, when Attersley scored the winning goal late in a 4-2 victory over the Soviets in the final, so much more went into winning the title.
This was a group of men, after all, who took time away from their family and work, to head overseas by boat for a barnstorming tour of Europe that lasted more than a month.
With a Cold War raging politically, there was a lot at stake for the Dunlops, who were representing a Canadian team that hadn't won a world title since 1955.
"That was a big moment for Canada," recalled Harry Sinden, the team's captain. "That was one of the great amateur teams ever put together. We went out over there and brought the world championship back after not having had it for three or four years. It was a big story, a big story. All the memories that go with it brought back a lot of the emotions."
The mere fact Sinden returned for the weekend spoke volumes. The man who went on to coach the Boston Bruins to a Stanley Cup and Canada to a Summit Series victory flew in from the United States Friday, just before another snowstorm pelted Ontario.
Charlie Burns wasn't so fortunate. He flew from Newark to Buffalo, then drove nearly seven hours through the storm to get here. Sandy Air, Frank Bonello, Fred Etcher, George Gosselin, Tom O'Connor, George Samolenko (now Samsen), Doug Williams and Attersley all also appeared, as promised.
"It means so many things, it's hard for me describe," said Sinden. "To be back and see a couple of my teammates that I haven't seen for 25 years, that was a very thrilling part of it. It was a real exciting moment to come back and get together this weekend."
The celebration began with a private reception Friday, but included two opportunities for the public to meet the players: Saturday at the Tap and Tankard in Whitby, and a Sunday autograph session prior to the current Dunlops' playoff game. The touching on-ice ceremony included Foster Hewitt's radio call of Attersley's big goal, introductions and trophy presentations to each player, and the raising of a new banner with all the names from the 1958 team.
"I've been totally surprised that it's been done so well," said Blair. "It's been a marvellous weekend. I just can't say enough about it."