The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Hockey has been a big factor in the life of Bob Faktor and what he does. Faktor has now lived in Calgary for seven years after attending Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) for three of them. Now he works as a project manager for United Communities, a land development company which looks for residential land to build on. In his time playing junior and college hockey, the most important skill Faktor picked up is the ability to communicate. "I played with lots of good leaders," Faktor said from Calgary as he mentioned Bomber captain David Scully and Jordan Flodell from Melfort, whom he played with in SAIT. Faktor said he believes those hockey skills have helped him build work relationships. That is important in a business where the economy is booming. The biggest challenges he faces is getting city approval to develop and discovering which land is feasible to work with. Faktor, 27, studied Architectural Technologies and continued his hockey career. Following his two-year career as a Bomber from '97-99, the Flin Flon native played a factor in helping SAIT win a national college championship in his first year and an Alberta title his last. You won't get him to say that his experience as a Bomber was better than SAIT, as he cherishes both. Playing at the college level allowed Faktor to experience a more wide open game and he faced faster players with more skill. "I also liked that it wasn't all hockey," he said. "You have the schooling as well. You weren't at the rink four hours a day." The other difference between the two leagues was the number of games played. Faktor played 30 to 35 weekend games from nearly 60 games. SAIT's coach, Ken Babey, contacted and recruited Faktor when his Bomber days ended. Those are times that he always talks about with others and looks back on. "It was definitely a dream of mine which I never expected to happen," Faktor said. "They're the only team in town. They're our NHL. Playing for the Bombers was a thrill." Former coach Larry Wintoneak played a large part in making Faktor's dream come true. "When I was 18, I played rec hockey," he explained. "Lucky for me, Wintoneak was searching for some local talent." The rest is history.5/29/2006
