SPORTS FLASHBACK 1975: Huskies celebrate ‘Jim Steel Night’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2024 (476 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last night was “Jim Steel Night” at the Steinbach Arena and the team honored the long-time Huskies defenceman in a short ceremony between periods of an 8-4 win over the La Broquerie Habs that vaulted Steinbach into third place in the standings.

For Steel, the win over La Broquerie was more satisfying than being in the spotlight and being recognized as one of the all-time Husky greats.

Jim Steel came to work at Derksen Printers last week with seven stitches in his right ear; the result of an unintentional meeting with the puck at Transcona.

When asked if he was blocking a shot when it happened, he said he hadn’t intended to. He was back to play in the third period of that game and the Huskies hung on for a 6-5 win. That’s the stuff good defencemen are made of.

Jim Steel has blocked more pucks than he would like to count in the past 16 or 17 years he’s been playing intermediate hockey. In fact, he’s not all that fussy about counting the number of years he’s been playing intermediate hockey. Not that Jim is old by any means… he just started early.

A defenceman since that era when Jack Rennie, Jim Hossack and Boyd Diamond were the mainstays of the Huskies lineup in the much stronger Provencher League, Jim Steel, at 15 or 16, held his own. He still does.

It is hard to say how many years the veteran defenceman will continue to skate himself into shape every fall, to go out there to throw himself in front of slapshots that could be stopped by a goalie with a whole lot more protection than he has. It will definitely be up to him.

The Huskies weren’t trying to remind Steel of his lengthy association with the game, or even to suggest that it might be time to think of retirement, when they honored him with “Jim Steel Night” at the arena. They just were showing their appreciation for his contribution to intermediate hockey in this area.

Jim Steel will probably play for this team as long as he wants to and Number 2 will be someone opposition players will have to contend with for a few years yet. Stay away from the front of the net, that’s Steel territory, and he won’t let you forget it.

They kept Tuesday’s ceremonies short, knowing that Steel would decide to stay in the dressing room if he got wind of plans for a lot of speeches and fanfare.

Jim plays hockey because he loves the game. Star status, goals, assists and scoring championships are for teammates.