Don Renshaw wasn’t born when the Victoria Cougars defeated the Montreal Canadiens to win the 1925 Stanley Cup.
Don’t be ridiculous. He’s not that old.
He wasn’t born until a year later, when the Cougars lost to the Montreal Maroons in the 1926 Stanley Cup final.
The 91-year-old Renshaw, the oldest person playing organized hockey in Western Canada, has been in a lot of games. The latest was a 9-4 loss Tuesday at Pearkes Arena, skating with the Eagle Ridge team from Westhills, in the 28th annual Victoria Playmakers Oldtimers Tournament.
“This sport keeps you young,” said Renshaw, who is from Vancouver.
Oldtimers hockey has researched Western Canada and the Maritimes and there is nobody older still playing organized hockey. Research needs to be concluded in Ontario and Quebec before Renshaw can officially be proclaimed the oldest hockey player in Canada.
The oldest in North America still playing in organized hockey is Mark Stenitch, 95, from Michigan.
Renshaw has more sparkle and life in his eyes than most people decades younger. He attributes his longevity in the sport to: “Health, watching what you eat, hugging somebody every day, exercise and sex.”
He added, with that twinkle: “You’ve not lived until you’ve had sex in your 90s.”
He was a top-level senior player in his day with the St. John Beavers of the old Maritimes League. He never gave up the sport, playing all over the world. He remembers details of every tour he has taken with his teams. That includes being mistaken for former Canadian NHLers in Stockholm, before going out and losing 13-1, and playing against a German team on the official opening night of a new small rink outside Heidelberg.
Renshaw also played with Charles M. Schultz himself on the host Santa Rosa Diamond Icers in the famous Snoopy’s seniors tournament.
“Hockey is a fun game . . . the best game in the world . . . no comparisons,” said Renshaw, who was the reservations supervisor for Air Canada during his working career.
“I want to play until I am the oldest player in Canada,” added Renshaw, who lists Bobby Orr as his favourite player.
There are 40 teams from all over B.C. and Alberta, and again one from Japan, in the Playmakers Tournament. It features players from 55 to, well, Renshaw. All games are at Pearkes through to Saturday.
A special feature of the tournament banquet is that players entering a new decade of play over the age of 70 get “knighted,” complete with a ceremony that includes kneeling in front of a robed swordsman who taps the shoulders.
The 70-plus knighthoods are conferred as Hockey Knights and the 80-plus as Hockey Exemplars. Renshaw wasn’t in last year’s tournament, so Thursday’s banquet will be the first opportunity to make him the first player ever knighted as a 90-plus Ex-Emplaritas.
