Former Minto to be inducted posthumously into New Hampshire Hockey Hall of Fame

Wayne Pecknold started his hockey career on the west coast and ended it on the east coast, with a stop in Prince Albert along the way.

Now the former Minto is being posthumously inducted into the New Hampshire Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2000, at the age of 60, Wayne died of cancer.

“We’ve always been very proud of him … it’s no surprise,” Wayne’s brother Lynn said of the honour.

“He was an aggressive player. He had good motor skills. He could deke. He could defend his younger brother if his younger brother got in a fight.”

Wayne, originally from Victoria, British Columbia, traveled to PA to play for the Mintos in 1958-59 after stints in B.C. and Quebec. Lynn said during that era the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League was a hot destination for up-and-coming hockey players.

“The situation in B.C. at that time was if you wanted to make it in hockey, you weren’t going to stick around British Columbia for very long. So the thing to do would be to go to the Saskatchewan League,” he said.

“There were a few people that had gone out also from B.C. and some from B.C. had been there before he was there. Wayne, going out there, he knew at least one or two.”

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