They are the standard by whom all others are measured. They have earned their place in time as the best of the best that will eventually be enshrined in a place reserved for those who have achieved the pinnacle in their sport, the Hall of Fame. They are the legends of the game.

Ball hockey, a fun and relatively unstructured activity played by children with little or no equipment on neighborhood streets, began to establish itself as a viable sport organization in the middle 1970’s. There were thousands of players, who all graduated from the rough asphalt surfaces to smooth concrete arena floors, that helped to foster the growth and development of the game into a formal association with a governing body and championship competition at all levels of participation. There were some among those pioneers of the pavement whose skill, achievements and longevity in the game placed them in a class all by themselves….

 

 

The O.B.H.A. goaltenders, like legendary puck stoppers Glenn Hall, Jacques Plante and Terry Sawchuk who adorn Hockey’s Hall of Fame, are represented by the finest ball stoppers that the game has ever seen in Bill Dark (London Provincial Glass), Jamie Falle (Ottawa Cobras) and Bruno Pullara (Fernview Rangers) respectively. They were the foundation and played an integral part in the success and achievements of their teams throughout the years. 

 

 

Canadian defensive legends such as Raymond Bourque, Paul Coffey Brad Park, Serge Savard, Larry Robinson, Ted Lindsay and the irreplaceable number four Robert Gordon Orr, who revolutionized how the game was played at the point position, set the standard for rearguards in the N.H.L. So too did this dime of defenders that stood tall on the floating blue line in the Ontario Ball Hockey Association over the past thirty years.

 

Hugh Baird (Budget Wildcats), Carmen ‘The Broom’ DiMascio (Dalt’s Honda Canadians), Michael Futa (Maple Precast Eagles), Denis Giacobbi (Ottawa Cobras), George ‘The Greek’ Gortsos (Fernview Rangers), Terry Griffiths (Midnight Express), James ‘Chicky’ Mentis (Midnight Express), Dave ‘The Moose’ Moore (London Provincial Glass), Grant Mussleman(Oshawa Bruins), Jon ‘Pics’ Pickering (Midas Topguns)

 

 

When one considers the foray of fabulous forwards that ‘skiddadled’ into the neutral zone and ‘knifed their way over the blue line’ before letting go of a ‘cannonating drive’ on net, there was a special group of players that comes to mind.

There was ‘Mr. Hockey’ who was the consummate all-around player who dominated the game like no one else. ‘The Rocket’, who was a fierce competitor and the first player to score fifty goals. ‘Le Gros Bill’, who was the class of the league and to this day remains an ambassador of the game. ‘The Golden Jet’, who had speed, skill and power with one the hardest slap shots in hockey. ‘The Big M’. He was a Calder Trophy winner and a fifteen time all star. There was ‘The Flower’ who electrified the fans when he flew down the wing and unleashed his big shot. The ‘Kings King’, who posted eight 100 point seasons in Lotus Land. ‘Trots’, who was the quintessential two-way player that played 18 seasons on the Island alongside the most gentlemanly right wing sniper of all time. And lest not forget ‘The Great One’. The scrawny little kid from Brantford, Ontario, who rewrote the record book and became the most heralded player in league history.

On the street, ball hockey’s most ostensible offenders were indeed as unique, skilled and accomplished as the aforementioned heroes who played on frozen pads, only they wore sneakers and had to earn every inch of paved real estate on foot throughout their life span in the O.B.H.A.

The most outstanding forwards in the game of ball hockey over the past 30 years are:

Bill ‘Army’ Armstrong (London Provincial Glass), Yvon ‘Skip’ Breton (Ottawa Senators), Lino Chioma (Toronto Whalers), Dino Ciccerelli (Sarnia Wilding Doors), Daryl Clancy (Canadian Wholesale Sports). Tony Colucci (Maple Precast Eagles), Louie Franceschetti (York Canadians), Scott Howson (Toronto Islanders) Gus ‘Magic’ Kourousis (Fernview Rangers), Denis Lapensee (Ottawa Globe Trophy), Claudio Lessio (Midas Topguns), Robert Marchese (Midnight Express), Robert Mentis (Midnight Express), Tony ‘Mini’ Miniaci (York Canadians), Daniel ‘The General’ Ranalli (Fernview Rangers), Terry ‘Sluggo’ Richards (Oshawa Bruins), Vytas Urbas (Budget Wildcats)

Congratulations to the Top 30 Players of the Past 30 Years in the Ontario Ball Hockey Association.