While a certain moose leg debacle garnered much of the attention at last week’s Flin Flon Bombers-Weyburn Red Wings game, another noteworthy event took place on the ice that evening.
A special Bombers jersey was presented to Harvey Fleming, who is the only locally residing player from the Bomber team that won the Memorial Cup in 1957.
Fleming said the jersey presentation was a pleasant surprise during a family outing at the hockey game.
“My daughter warned me about five minutes beforehand,” he said with a laugh.
Fleming moved to Flin Flon in 1953, at the age of 16, and played with the Bombers for four years.
“They treated me good here,” he said, recalling that at the time the hockey players stayed in a large dormitory and ate their meals together.
Fleming moved back to the Flin Flon area in 2005.
Today, he stays in touch with some of his old teammates, including Carl Forster, Rod Lee and Ted Hampson, who visits the community each summer.
While some of the ’57 players have passed away, the memories from the team’s big win in Regina stay strong.
“They treated us awful good coming home,” said Fleming.
“It took us three days to get home from Regina on the train! They wouldn’t let us get through Melville without giving us a bunch of stuff, and feeding us.”
That jubilant reception was repeated all along the railway route, with the team receiving a set of mink bow ties in The Pas.
Fleming said the team’s coach, Bobby Kirk, was key to their outstanding success that year. A natural in the role, he understood how to motivate his players and earn their respect.
“He was a real gentleman,” Fleming said.
So what does the retired champion think of this year’s Bombers?
“They are playing as a team now, and that’s why they are being successful,” Fleming said.
“They are backing each other. They’ve got a good chance to win it all, I think.”
As for Fleming’s crisp new jersey, he said his daughter plans to add his number, 8, to the jersey, and then he’ll be showing it off as much as he can. After all, his new duds are a major upgrade from the uniform he wore as a Maroon and White player.
“This is really well put together, heavy quality – ours were very light. Which is funny because we played in the cold up here, we deserved to have heavy ones!”
The Memorial Cup final was the junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. In 1957, the Bombers won their first Memorial Cup in a best-of-seven series, defeating the Ottawa Junior Canadiens four games to three. The final game was played in Regina, bringing western Canada its first Memorial Cup win in nine years.
