The trophy may be small in stature, but the name it bears is as big as hockey itself in Penticton.
On Sunday, the winning team at the inaugural Penticton Classics 4-on-4 minor hockey tournament will receive the Don Moog Cup.
| Darrell Moog (right) and organizer Paul Parkinson of the upcoming Classics 4 on 4 novice hockey tournament and the trophy that will be named after Paul and Andy's late father Don Moog, a member of the 1955 World Championship Vees. (Mark Brett - Western News) |
He was the back-up to Ivan McLelland, looking after the duties between the pipes for the 1955 World Champion Penticton Vees.
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According to Classics’ tournament organizer Paul Parkinson, the decision to name the trophy after Don Moog seemed the appropriate thing to do, especially as the kids playing Sunday wear old and current Vees jerseys, including the world champs sweaters.
“Naming the trophy after Don was really our first choice because it has a connection from the past to the present,” said Parkinson, noting there is still a Moog family member playing in the Penticton Minor Hockey Association.
“We kind of thought it would be interesting to shine a light, albeit a small light, because he (Don) was on the 1955 team and what the family has done in the community through the years.”
Presenting the trophy will be Darrell Moog, himself a former member of the Vees B.C. Hockey League team in 1977-78.
His brother Andy Moog was a three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s and played for the junior Vees as well as Canada’s 1988 Olympic team.
| Andy Moog and his late father Don Moog with the Stanley Cup Andy won with the Edmonton Oilers. (Submitted photo) |
Andy was also a critical part of the establishment of the Moog and Friends Hospice House that opened in 1998 to provide a caring and compassionate environment for people nearing the end of life.
Parkinson connected with Darrell Moog at the Penticton Vees exhibition game Friday at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
“It’s an awesome feeling to have that done for the family and I think it’s just a great honour to have that named after my dad,” said Darrell, whose son Tagg is in his first year playing bantam hockey. “I think he would be very honoured to have his name on this trophy.”
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Darrell was born six years after his father won the World Cup, so he didn’t get to see him play very much. But Don did tell the kids a little about it when they were growing up.
One of Darrell’s fondest memories of time together with his dad was when he played with him when the Vees’ old-timers hit the ice.
“It was a group that got together every Sunday at 9:30 in the morning at Memorial Arena and they had an hour and a half of ice time, and every now and then I was able to go out because they were short of goalies. People like Larry Lund (another member of the 1955 Vees team) were out kicking around. It was great.”
Six teams sporting the jerseys of Penticton teams—the modern Vees, the 1955 world champions, the Knights, the Panthers, the Broncos and vintage V’s—will take part in the event that runs from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will include a girls-only match at the end of the day.
It will also be a fundraiser with money raised going to parent advisory councils in School District 67.
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