Former Drumheller resident Bob Rawlusyk has hockey roots that run deep, and start in the valley. Last Saturday, July 20 he was awarded the Robert Clark Legacy Award at the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame gala in Red Deer.
This is the second year the award has been presented. It recognizes exceptional leadership in hockey. It celebrates individuals who exemplify Clark’s passion, leadership, collaboration, and unwavering integrity in their efforts to advance and enhance hockey.
Bob Rawlusyk fits that bill.
As a youth Rawlusyk, like many Drumheller kids, spent the winter on the ice and the summer on the ball diamond.
“In fact, I started coaching at 18 years of age, when I was still playing!” he tells the Mail.
He was playing in a commercial league that was around town, and he played with many members of the 1961 Juvenile Miner team. However, when he was too old to play on the team, he started coaching.
“I played with Glen Brost, Max Mestinsek, Alex Young, Danny Mallich, Jimmy Mcdonald and all of those guys for years. We just put them all together, and we ended up going through the whole province and winning every series we played in,” said Rawlusyk.
He also began coaching little league and girl’s softball and was a lifeguard at the swimming pool.
He coached the 1963 Miners Alberta juvenile baseball team to a provincial title. That same year, he played on a senior men’s baseball team that also won provincially.
The team continued to win more, but Rawlusyk had moved to Stettler to begin his career in recreation.
I taught swimming at Buffalo Lake, and then in the fall, I started to work for the rec department,” he said.
He moved up in his career to assistant director and then director of the recreation department in Stettler.
“When I moved here to there, I got into a good thing, and Stettler is quite a bit different from Drumheller and, I enjoyed both towns,” he said.
All the while continuing to coach and lead teams of all kinds of sports.
In his first year in Stettler, he put together a juvenile baseball team, and they advanced to the first round of provincials but fell to … you guessed it, Drumheller.
He also had success with girls’ softball. He coached one team for four years at the juvenile level. The same players continued to the Junior level, where they won the province and competed interprovincially.
In 1991, he was tasked with organizing national games between Canada and Russia, advised the World Junior Hockey Committee in Red Deer and was the director of the World Under-17 Hockey Championship.
He retired from Stettler Recreation about 15 years ago, and has been enjoying his retirement. A few months ago, he received a call from former teammate Max Mestinsek and learned he was nominated.
“It is kind of nice to get recognized, but I don’t like to brag about these things and say much about myself,” he said. “If I made an impact on some kids along the way, I think to me that is important.”
The Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame induction gala was in Red Deer at the Gary W. Harris Centre on Saturday, July 20. This year’s inductees included Jarome Iginla, Craig MacTavish, Kelly Kisio and Shannon Szabados.
Born in Acme, Robert Clark has a legacy that started in politics and spread to hockey. He served as MLA for the Didsbury and Olds Didsbury Constituencies from 1960 to 1981. In 1987, he was hired as general manager of the Olds Grizzlys and was part of the team’s winning legacy, winning three consecutive AJHL championships between 1992 and 1994. He later served as president of the team and chairman of the AJHL from 1998 to 2007.
