How old is the KIJHL, anyway?
The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s beginnings have long been mired in confusion. The league’s own website is wrong.
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Greg Nesteroff
- Nov 6, 2022
- 6 min
Seth Martin’s mask
Exactly when did legendary Trail Smoke Eaters goaltender start wearing a mask? And was it before or after Jacques Plante did the same thing?
1,035 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
- May 24, 2022
- 7 min
Kokanees, Red Wings, Maple Leafs, and MRKs
From 1927 to 1934, Nelson’s senior men’s hockey team changed names four times. Why? Finding out is proving more challenging than I expected.
619 views5 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Mar 1, 2021
- 6 min
Tiny Thompson and Sandon
Sandon produced a Hall of Fame NHL goaltender. But Tiny Thompson’s relationship with his birthplace has not been explored — until now.
914 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Sep 28, 2020
- 3 min
Old Boyes club
Did former Montreal Wanderers goalie Art Boyce (aka Boyes) play for Nelson in 1917? Spoiler: no. It’s a case of mistaken identity.
293 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Jul 3, 2020
- 19 min
Syd Desireau: West Kootenay’s first pro hockey player
The first professional hockey player born in BC was from Nelson.
930 views5 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Mar 6, 2020
- 7 min
Patricks on postcards
The remarkable postcard seen below sold in 2020 on eBay for $168 Cdn. It’s a previously unknown image of the Patrick Lumber Camp No. 1...
725 views3 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Nov 8, 2018
- 2 min
Larry Kwong (1923-2018)
You heard it here last: Larry Kwong, the NHL’s first player of Asian descent and the oldest Trail Smoke Eaters alumnus, died on March 15...
566 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Oct 17, 2018
- 3 min
Lester Patrick’s Slocan tryout
I recently came across a charming anecdote about hockey legend Lester Patrick in West Kootenay that I had never seen before — and in fact...
383 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Oct 17, 2018
- 17 min
The Cornwall Cup
From 1909 until the early 1950s, the Cornwall Cup was awarded for the men’s hockey championship of the Slocan. Officially engraved as the...
706 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Oct 16, 2018
- 2 min
WIHL reunion, 1999
On Sept. 4 and 5, 1999, Trail hosted a reunion of Western International Hockey League players and officials. The senior league existed...
1,105 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
- Oct 1, 2018
- 4 min
More Holy Grails of local history
A previous post enumerated historical finds I have made only to lose track of them or fail to document their discovery, to my everlasting...
508 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
- Aug 26, 2018
- 1 min
Patrick Lumber Co.
I devoted an earlier post to West Kootenay sites associated with hockey’s Patrick family, including the Crescent Valley beach, where the...
537 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- May 15, 2018
- 4 min
Lester Patrick returns to Nelson
A previous post looked at surviving West Kootenay landmarks related to the Patrick family, hockey pioneers who lived in Nelson from...
444 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Feb 10, 2018
- 10 min
6 Kootenay sites connected to Hockey’s Royal Family
From 1907 to 1911, members of the Patrick family lived in Nelson while operating a lumber company that owned timber limits in the Slocan...
1,782 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Feb 8, 2018
- 1 min
Miracle in Rossland
In honour of the start of the Winter Olympics, here’s a gallery of photos I took on March 3, 2003 during filming in Rossland of the Kurt...
2,516 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Jan 28, 2018
- 5 min
Last of the LA Ramblers
The last surviving members of what was probably the strangest hockey team ever to play in the Kootenay have died. Terry Cavanagh...
1,119 views0 comments
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