Darrell Davis
Regina Leader-Post
Dave “Tiger” Williams would have to call back. A doctor was checking his shoulders.
“A normal person could only wreck one at a time,” said Williams after calling back. “Abnormal guys, we do both shoulders at the same time.”
Williams apparently tore both rotator cuffs during one hockey game. It didn’t happen during his minor hockey days in Weyburn, while playing junior with the Swift Current Broncos or in the 15 NHL seasons he spent setting league records for penalty minutes with five teams, primarily the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks, before retiring in 1988.
It happened about 18 months ago during an oldtimers game. Rec hockey!
“We call it ‘young guys hockey,’” said Williams, 71. “You wouldn’t call it ‘recreation hockey’ either. We have no idea how good the hockey is across Canada. I don’t care if you’re in Newfoundland — been there, done that — or in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, everybody can play.”
So Williams still plays “fun” hockey games, just like he’ll show up for a fundraising golf tournament, even though he’s not a devoted golfer. And he’s going to be in Regina on Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as a guest with the Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation for a dinner and storytelling event at Conexus Arts Centre described as “celebrating Indigenous hockey legends.”
Proceeds from the event will be shared among local organizations, specifically the Ranch Ehrlo Society’s Outdoor Hockey League, KidSport Saskatchewan and the Circle Project. Tickets are available on the foundation’s website.
Hockey Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier, a longtime friend and teammate of Williams’ in Swift Current, is also among the featured guests.
So are former NHLers Jordin Tootoo, brothers Dwight and D.J. King, Ron Delorme, Rich Pilon and Joey Tetarenko. Other guests are Jon Mirasty, Brent Dodginghorse and Kalley Armstrong, a granddaughter of legendary Maple Leafs captain George Armstrong and a conference champion during her four seasons playing hockey at Harvard University.
“It’s a very cool group,” said Williams. “I played with a few of them. I played junior with a few Indigenous players and I try to meet as many of them as I can. Only about one per cent (of NHL players) are Indigenous, so it’s respectful to have them involved in something like this, especially on their own day.
“Everybody wins in this situation. This is for everybody in the province, for Indigenous people to be put on a pedestal so all the rest can enjoy and be involved in it. And it’s good for the kids who are 10 or six years old to think, ‘I want to be on that podium some day.’
Williams is the only non-Indigenous guest, but his ties to the community are deep.
“There’s a hat trick involved in this for me,” said Williams. “First you’ve got the scouts, second you’ve got Bryan Trottier and third you’ve got all the Indigenous people in Saskatchewan or anywhere else.
“My oldest brother was married to an Indigenous lady, my sister was married to an Indigenous man, my youngest brother married an Indigenous woman and Bryan Trottier’s my blood brother.”
Trottier frequently tells a story about being an undersized, 16-year-old prospect with Swift Current, where Delorme was among his teammates. Trottier got so homesick he quit during the Christmas break. Williams was a rough-and-tumble 17-year-old teammate who came to Trottier’s home, told the budding superstar he would protect him and talked the youngster into returning to a playing career that ultimately landed him six Stanley Cups.
“He never was willing to share the Cup with his blood brother,” said Williams with a chuckle.
Williams never won a Stanley Cup, but his outrageous antics, numerous fights and gregarious personality made him a popular guy to represent NHL alumni at hundreds of events.
He’s been in trouble, getting charged seven years ago with sexual assault during an overseas trip to visit Canadian troops and two years ago facing assault charges for an incident in Saskatchewan. Charges were dropped in both cases, with Williams apologizing for the first incident and completing alternative measures programming in the second.
Williams said he still visits Canadian troops, plus he supports police officers partly because the late Torchy Schell, a Regina-based scout for the Maple Leafs and RCMP member, was one of his strongest supporters. Now Williams bemoans the changing attitude of today’s players, who have left much of the community work to the previous generation.
“We’re gonna be busy til April with a lot of the same things, like the Baycrest Hospital (fundraising hockey game) in Toronto for Alzheimer’s research for the 20th time,” said Williams. “On a negative point, I shouldn’t be doing this anymore.
“New players don’t do what we do. They’re created a vacuum for us guys. That’s wrong. They should go out and give back to the fans. That car you drive and that house you sleep in, they helped pay for that. The least you could do is go out every once in awhile to show your gratitude.”
