Chapter 2 - 1984 and play resumes:

Halifax 1984. Around 50 people arrived in Halifax for the rebirth. Montreal, Gander, a group from Ottawa who drove a motor home in a snow storm and Halifax were the teams. Charlie Carpenter, who had been fired in 1981 and was teaching in London, England and the Waz brought the US colours.

Some people played for 2 teams as we didn't have enough players. A van load of beer-packing participants drove in another snow storm to visit Bruce's family for an afternoon. Corned Beef and Cabbage was served at the banquet (typical Maritime fare). We didn't have any trophies as they were with the last winners. Sam Moon played nets for Gander and he and Dana have been fixtures ever since.

Life goes on and so does ATC hockey.  New U.S. controllers were hired (some of which actually played hockey), old players returned, the interest grew again, and the game played on…


You can thank Ed LeSage (UL/VR) for this story.  A while ago he sent me a photo of a fellow who used to work in Montreal and asked me if I could identify him.  Of course I rose to the challenge and quickly replied that is was none other than JT, Jean-Claude Tremblay, a B-Stand in Dorval tower in the ’60s and ‘70s – a great guy and a lot of fun to work with.  I went on and on, basically to show off my great memory.  It was Jeff Gallant.

Time passes and if we’re not careful many of our best stories and legends will pass from memory, or at least be relegated to those old codger stories where the younger members of the audience says; “Yah, sure pops”, return to their lite beers while the old farts lean forward and pretend to remember… So let me set the stage, so to speak, for one of those stories and provide a little history. Here’s what Judy Curran had to say; "… the best story ever is the great snow fall of either '71 or '72, when Boston was in Montreal for the tournament - we were stuck in my apartment in Dollard, snow everywhere, my car abandoned on Sources Rd., but somehow we made it to the Grand and the hockey game. Eric St Denis will kill me about this, but somehow I remember him sleeping in full uniform in someone's hotel room (bathtub) at the Grand, and then he was poured on the rink in the AM and scored I don't know how many goals to win the game. I will, and I'm sure many others will never forget that weekend. Just too much fun to be had by all…and thank heavens road checks were not even thought of at that time!!!"


By now everybody in ATC and likely every country that has ATC has heard of or participated in Canadian Air Traffic Control Hockey tournaments.  Al Yeadon (AJ) believes that International ATC hockey tournaments actually began in 1966 or 1967 (before my time…) when Montreal ACC and Boston ARTCC got together in the winter for a weekend of hockey and comradeship.  Everyone must have had a great time because a tradition was borne.  The location alternated each year, Montreal then Boston then Montreal, etc.  Actually Boston ARTCC was located in Nashua New Hampshire, which was probably a good thing as it kept the celebration more or less low key for a few years.  Eventually other ACCs and ARTCCs got tired of listening to UL & BOS bragging so they joined.  The tournament Judy mentioned above was in 1972 (I hope…) and there were several teams in the tournament that almost wasn’t because of a bloody great Montreal snowstorm.  I know Toronto and Gander were there because I played goal for Toronto as their goalie caught a puck in the face and they needed someone foolish enough to stand between the pipes.  YZ beat QX but I seem to remember that Montreal won the tournament.  It would be their last title for a while as more and more teams joined; Moncton, Chicago, New York, Minneapolis. Eventually the West joined and many ACCs and ARTCCs sent several players and new teams were created.  However, in 1972 Chicago must have sent a team or at least a few players because a central character of the title story was fast becoming a legend – the Waz.

Roy Wasilkowski was the Waz. He worked in ZAU (Chicago ARTCC) and travelled to many ATC hockey tournaments with his sidekick “Wounded Knee”.  I never did know WK’s real name but I knew to stay clear unless the Waz said you were OK – one tough customer.  And on this particular tournament, the Chicago team included a fellow nicknamed "Zamboni", but I digress.



The Waz was a force to be reckoned with, he could barely skate but that never mattered – he could drink and party forever, and did I mention he was assertive…he is the central character in many stories in many tournaments; Montreal, Chicago, New York, Gander, and Minneapolis to name a few.  In MSP he befriended a YZ player whose arm was in a sling and therefore couldn't play.  The Waz thought this guy looked like Lanny McDonald (Leafs and Flames legend) and... but I digress, this story is about the Gander gathering in 1976.

In March ’76 I flew from Winnipeg, where I had moved in February, to Montreal and joined a bunch of fellow hockey players enroute to QX.  And a varied crew we were; players from UL, YZ and several from Chicago including the Waz, WK and Zamboni.  We were likely 30 or so in total and we were to fly Air Canada from UL to HZ, gather several guys from QM, and then on to QX.  That was the plan.

Of course the drinking started long before the first boarding call in Dorval and by the time we were taxiing out we were already flying.  Much noise and singing and drinking continued with a very loud chorus of “REPENT, REPENT WE'RE ALL GONNA CRASH!!! (as verified by Louis De Lisle) repeated the entire time we were on final for HZ followed by considerable clapping and whistling when the DC-9 touched down.  This was going to be a trip to remember.

Fortunately for the airport staff we were only to be in HZ for a couple of hours. I was still relatively sober and as time passed I seem to remember noticing a number of RCMP officers in the passenger area but hey, we were still behaving ourselves, loud and obnoxious but still behaving - and then the Waz sort of changed things.  Now the Waz was a rather imposing and slightly scary guy; maybe 5’11” (some say taller, but he slouched a lot), 200lbs, very long arms, big hands, longish hair, reddish blonde van dyke beard and mustache, and small, rectangular sunglasses, and a deep drawling voice.  Did I mention he could be menacing and assertive at the same time and you NEVER dared him to do anything…so there was the Waz.  He had found an RCMP officer standing by a pillar and has placed himself in the officer’s space, as in face-to-face or rather nose-to-nose. H e says something about this being a pretty airport and then pokes the officer in the chest and adds, fairly loudly; “How would you like me to make this place a parking lot?” following by several more pokes.  By now you must be wondering what this has to do with Jeff.

In 1976 Jeff Gallant was an IFR controller in UL but in his previous life he was a member; that is Jeff used to be an RCMP (GRC s’il vous plait) constable.  And in ’76 at the HZ airport Jeff single handedly de-fused the Waz confrontation.  He managed to get between the Waz and the constable and while some of us pulled/dragged the Waz from the scene, Jeff leaned in conspiratorially and said he was a former “member” and had an idea that would save face for everybody and avoid an ugly scene, as in a drunk, ugly and stupid scene.  His solution was simple and impressive; all Waz really wanted was an RCMP hat, not the wide-brimmed version you see with the scarlet uniforms, just the usual hat with the yellow stripe and black rim.  Now I understand the RCMP do not like to see their hats worn by ordinary citizens and only relent when the RCMP insignia has been removed.  More and more constables began to arrive and just before boarding our DC-9, an RCMP hat, minus its insignia, magically appeared and the Waz was beaming.  Funny, our group led by the Waz, boarded last, more or less surrounded by several officers.

As we climbed out from HZ the DC-9 captain came on the intercom and said (more or less); “I understand we have a bunch of happy air traffic controllers on board on their way to play hockey in Gander. The RCMP have advised me to advise you that if you act up or get too boisterous there are several jail cells awaiting our diversion to St. John, New Brunswick.”  We all cheered!  The flight to QX was similar to the flight to HZ; much noise and singing and drinking continued with a very loud chorus of “REPENT, REPENT WE'RE ALL GONNA CRASH!!!" repeated the entire time we were on final for QX.  While taxiing in I apologized to my seat mate, an elderly lady from Gander. She replied that she had never enjoyed a flight so much in her entire life!  My last memory of that flight was leaving the airplane and walking through an honour guard of maybe 20 RCMP officers who flanked both sides of the walkway.  Hmmm, exactly where would we have gone on that huge Gander tarmac???  The Waz wore his RCMP hat 24/7 for the entire stay except maybe for the 12 hours or so he spent behind the piano in the Gander Hotel bar, but I digress.  Gander won their own tournament and a great time was had by all.


I was reviewing this page a while ago and I decided it was time to acknowledge the contribution of the Gander ACC hockey team of the early '70s to popular folklore and culture - namely the seldom seen practice of streaking.

From Wikipedia, the free internet encyclopedia: Streaking is the non-sexual act of taking off one's clothes and running naked through a public place. Wikipedia further states that: "...streaking seems to have been well-established on some college campuses by the mid-1960s" and; "...a group of University of Notre Dame students sponsored a "Streakers' Olympics" in 1972."  I cannot verify the first statement, but I know, by personal experience, that Gander controllers were participating in this rather odd behavior in the early '70s or earlier. You may well ask how do I know?  Read on…

The first ATC tournament I ever attended was in 1971 (or was it 1973?? and I think Montreal won, didn't we??) in Nashua New Hampshire.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn and occupied most of one wing on the bottom floor.  I think it was night 2 that the streaking began, but we didn't call it streaking as that word was rather unknown to our group.  We correctly called it "Newfie Racing" as it was our controller brothers from The Rock who introduced us to the sport.  Imagine the scene if you will. After midnight 20 to 40 men, most between ages 25-40 are drinking beer in the hall on the ground floor of a Holiday Inn, so far so good.  Somewhere after 6 or 10 beers for the Canadians (or 3-6 for our American brothers) someone suggested we race.

Race?
Yes boy, race.
Where?
Here.
But we don't have shorts or running shoes!
Don't need 'em.
No?
Don't wear anything.
What?
Run naked.

And so we, or at least many of us did.  At one point a guest room door opened and a rather large black man asked what the hell was going on.  He had his wife and family in their room and we were making a lot of noise!!!  I mention that he was black as it must have been an odd sight; both clothed and naked men, mostly pale, white un-tanned men, drinking beer and clearing the hall every 5 minutes or so as 2 or 3 naked men, beer in hand, raced down the hall.

What the hell are they doing?
Newfie Racing.
Oh…

And the non-ATC guest returned to his room not to be heard from again that night, even when someone opened the double doors and several unclothed racers charged outdoors and skidded in the snow.  One unfortunate soul struck a parked car straight-on.  No blood, so we let them cool off outside for 20 or so minutes.  The next day the Hotel management was not impressed and another Nashua hotel posted a NO ATC HOCKEY PLAYERS! sign. 

That's the reason for the 1972 tournament in Montreal and where by the way, one of the Boston types did a Newfie race on the ice in skates.  By the end of that experience it was not clear what gender he(?) was as his, well equipment, had shrunk, afraid of the cold and the attention!  Some of the wives in the crowd thought it was that US college activity called streaking.  We corrected them immediately.

Newfie Racing - another cultural gift from The Rock.

The above was written by PHIL GEESE.... his initials were JJ...

He used to work in YUL and in those days because of the French in the AIR or 1976....
Some YUL controllers were offered Transfers and comparable homes too...
So if your house in YUL was worth 200,000.00 and the same in YYZ or elsewhere in Canada... was 400,000.00 Then they would give the transferred guy an amount of the difference... it was taxable at first but contested and won years after..
And JJ went to Winnipeg.... off with his VOLVO !!!!!!!!!!!

JJ was the goalie of YUL back in those days...
He was like the serious type... more of a spectator...

And I remember he told me he wanted to write something like this..
Actually it is the first time I read it .... so thank you...

And YES it was I that use to SCREAM.... exactly SCREAM..

REPENT REPENT REPENT very slowly very loudly..
Then pause and scream... WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Eric Saint Denis was Baptized by the Waz......  Eric "Streak" Denis !!!!!!!!!
JJ may have been thinking of Saint Denis Street in YUL...
And WAZ..... for WAZ ILkowski.... Éric Saint Denis always called him the WAZZZZZZZZZZZZ Only the New Yorker and Boston guys were calling him WOZZZZZZZZZZ !!!!!!

That was the first ATC tournament in YQX... WOW I WAS THERE...

Lots of Jennifer Stories.... ahahhaha
Zamboni the organizer was there...
The WAZZZZZZZZZZ
Klinger from YQX...
Those are great and good memories that will always bring smiles to my face... and be very dear to my heart...

Was in real life was sort of a "Hoarder"....
And was having constant problems with his neighbours...
Because of his drinking and anti social style....
BUT ONCE A YEAR during tournament time... WAZ the Genius brat would come out and Showed us how happy he was to be there....
I had to take care of him a few times.. at the YQB tournament and in YUL too...
Especially when my GF at the time LUCIE... invited him over to our house...
while he was in Chicago..
The next night guess who's at the airport... the WAZZZZZZZZZZZ



The Benediction was started by Roy Wasilkowsky in the 70's, date I can't remember.

The "WAZ" was an ordained minister, some type of Correspondence course ministry, but he was, and I saw the certificate, because he wanted to marry Viv and I.

The words of the benediction are partially from the Bible, chapter and verse (Genesis?) not known to me.


The Waz was a very unique individual.  Thought to be a lunatic by many, few ever got to see the man for what and who he was.

He could play the piano magnificently:  He was accepted to Oklahoma St. on both an academic and sport (football) scholarship:  He was an excellent ATC:  He WAS an alcoholic: He did the Sunday New York Times Crossword puzzle, IN INK:  He had a grip that would floor anyone!

He was the best man at my wedding and a complete gentleman for the whole day.  Much of him was show.



Sept 1993....when Andrea and I planned to get married we decided not to invite Waz.  Do I have to say why?   Well he found out and decided to come anyway. 

On the night of his arrival I was working evenings, so I thought I’d meet him and keep him at work with me until my shift was done.  I go to meet the flight and no Waz.  I asked one of the Air Canada girls if everyone is off Flight such and such.  ”Yeah, everybody but one guy”
I say to her ”Big guy..beard..sunglasses..shootin’ his mouth off?”   “Yeah, that’s him”.   I asked her to take me to the flight as we couldn’t go to the gates with our passes then.  She called up to the gate first to check on things and said the RCMP had him and he
was on the way to Bedford.  Great.....I checked with the RCMP at the airport and he was still there in the lockup.  I knew a few of the cops so I went to their area and they agreed to ‘let me have him’ if I took him right away.  I went into the room where he was and of course he was smoking. 

He’s all smiles and pointing at his leg as he pulls up his pant leg.  There’s something wrapped around his leg and he’s grinning and pointing and putting his finger to his mouth so to show he has a secret.   Great... he’s got dope strapped to his leg....wrong...it was a Shoppers Drug Mart mini cast held on by velcro.  With this he got wheelchair rides at airports.  My Supervisor Al MacGregor who had met Waz before let me off early so Waz wouldn’t have to go to Bedford and eventually Downtown.  When we got in the car I read him the riot act as Andrea and I had more important things to attend to than babysit him.  My speech could not hold a candle to what my mother in law Pat had to say to him that night at the house.  You should have seen him, he was put in his place like never before.  He spent quite a bit of time in what he called his basement, away from Pat and the family.  He and Pat had quite an understanding, they eventually had a few swallies together but he knew he wasn’t going to get away with anything.

I knew I had to keep him occupied so I hauled up the hall carpet and got ready for Waz to lay some tile.  Fat chance......he mixed one batch of mortar and laid about eight tiles.  I did the rest while he sat and drank Vodka.

Wedding day.  We got married in a dancehall.  The alter was an arbour we rented, put some flowers in it and had two potted plants in front of the stage.  As the JP is performing the ceremony Waz climbs up on the stage with the band with his video camera.  The JP is talking too long for Waz and he starts moving his hand in a circle to get him to hurry up.  Of course the camera in his other hand is going up and down at the same time.  Andrea and I watched the videos later and when we came to Waz’s we split a gut as the picture was up and down like being on a boat.

When the reception is over, who leaves in the cab to the hotel with us, the Waz.

As you can see in the photo, he looked pretty dapper on wedding day.

Waz was quite a guy.  We would have drinking phone calls where we went on with a lot of Monty Python or Benny Hill or just laugh about what we did at Tournaments.  I’ll never forget him buck naked playing pool on the mezzanine in the lobby of the hotel in Chicago in ‘75.  The manager starts screaming at him from the bottom of the steps.  Waz walks over to the top of the steps and slides face first right down to the managers feet.  Did you know the Chicago guys paid him to behave at that Tournament?  I met his Mom an several occasions, she was quite a lady.  He was very proud of his daughter Tanya who is quite successful as a banker.

There will never be another Waz, playing the piano with his nose, smooth talking girls with his one French line, arriving with three half gallons of vodka and a small can of juice for mix.  Some have tried to imitate him, but it doesn’t take them too long to realize that there will only ever be one Waz....Thank you Lord.