By John Doolan

A Brief History

At the annual meeting in 2012 held in Fort Lauderdale, Jim Darby, then in charge of Easton Hockey, approached Mark Brennan and me as we roamed the exhibits.  During our conversation he inquired as to why none of the older guys were at the meeting.  We asked what it had cost him to attend, and he said he wasn’t really sure.  I commented that the older guys who had left the game or retired may still be working a full-time job and that getting time to attend could be a problem along with the cost of travel, hotel and meals.  Jim then said that he wanted to see the older fellows that he had met since he introduced Easton to the hockey world.  He then stated that he would fund an amount going forward to make it happen.

Hence, the ‘Alum’ was born.  Our first roadblock was to gather a database of those who had come before.  We assumed that contacting the NHL Pension Society would solve the problem.  However, upon contact, they said that they were not by law allowed to disclose the information we needed to begin a directory.  To Mark’s credit, he came up with an ingenious solution.  He provided the Pension Society with postcards which they then were gracious enough to mail to those trainers and equipment managers who were receiving a pension.  Slowly, responses began to reach us, and the directory began to take shape.  We now have well over 150 alums on file.  If you know of any former members who would like to join our band of brothers, please tell them to contact Anita and she will send information.

As mentioned, Jim got the ball rolling. When Bauer purchased Easton Hockey, long-time supporter Jim Geary took over the funding.  At the 2013 gathering, we invited our first group of alum, three former equipment managers who joined us in Las Vegas, John Holmes, LA Kings, Gerry Dean, Oakland Seals and Jocko Cayer, Tampa. 

Over the past twelve years, excluding the two years that were canceled due to Covid, we have had over fifty former members come and experience the growth of PHATS/SPHEM.  Several of our first guests enjoyed the experience so much that they footed the bill to return.  It should be noted that any alum may attend the meeting at their own expense with the registration fees waived if they are not attending to garner CEU’s.

Also, several alums have been put to work during their time at the sessions by being accredited presenters to both Societies.

I’m often asked about inviting specific individuals. If the budget allows, we do our best to accommodate.

Working with a minimal budget has required our selections to be geographical.  We have set costs in the hotel, but travel is a major concern.  Therefore, we need to look at the location of the event, and whether a nearby alum could drive to avoid airfare costs.  Another consideration for our guests is decided by the HOF inductee.  In the last few years, we have designated funds so that former colleagues can attend to be part of the inductee’s night.  This restraint has been somewhat softened as this past year the Societies made a generous increase in our funds which I credit to our acceptance by the two groups.  Along with the increased funding exhibitor Marc Juneau, the owner of Classic Auctions, has begun to fully sponsor an alum.

How have the alumni gained acceptance, you may ask?  For the first few years a group of gray-haired fellows would be seen roaming around, which led some to ask the question, “who brought their father with them?”

As mentioned, we have been asked to provide presenters and several years ago we began our “Hot Stove” session where we provide an hour of tales and insight to how things were in the old days. 

In 2014 we introduced the Career Achievement Alumni Awardwhichis given each year to someone who exemplifies professionalism and longevity in the field of Hockey. They adhere to our code of ethics, and it can be either an Athletic Therapist/Trainer or Equipment Manager. They also need to be members in good standing with PHATS/SPHEM and have not worked at any NHL levels as a full-time employee. 

About15 years ago, Paul Boyer approached me about the history of NHL staffs.  I assumed that, since I was the oldest active member at the time and my memory was still intact, I might be the right person to take on the task.  Initially the data was on Excel worksheets and went back to the 1967 NHL expansion from six teams to twelve.  I got to the point that I felt it was ready to be presented and reached out to Grover Web Design owned by a former player and friend.  He was gracious enough to have his staff build the site, PHATS/SPHEM Alumni Family Tree, and to host it. 

As you can see if you have visited the Alumni Family Tree, (which is linked on the PHATS/SPHEM website’s Alumni tab, at phatssphem.com/alumni/) we now have a comprehensive history going back to 1917.  Since the site’s launch, we have added the abilities to insert photos and bios of individuals.

This year also marked our first Alumni booth at the Annual Hockey Summit.  Though traffic was not what we expected, you need to start somewhere.  Going forward we will strive to make it a more interactive experience by possibly having our alum bring items that they have saved from over the years and if possible a monitor to display the Family Tree for your viewing.

Like all the separate leagues, we too now have our own “Breakout Session”.  This was introduced two years ago and provides us with an opportunity to gather and discuss the path of our group going forward.  It has been invaluable to Mark and me to get this feedback to the point that we added both Gaetan Lefebvre, owner of Athlete RMS and former Montreal Canadians trainer, as well as Mark O’Neill of Jan-Al Case and former equipment manager for the Kings and Ducks in an advisory capacity.  We selected these two individuals as they work with members of your groups on a regular basis and we felt they could provide invaluable feedback.

Going forward, our vision is to have more involvement and interaction.  We as a group have a wealth of knowledge both from our days in our respective hockey fields, but also what we have accomplished after leaving the game including how we managed the abrupt end, transitioning or how we planned our escape.

We would also like to thank our sponsors, Warrior, Bauer, CCM, Fanatics, ReQuip’d along with Classic Auctions.