The Peterborough Examiner
May 2010
by Dale Clifford, Examiner Staff Writer

Author John Hewitt says George (Red) Sullivan changed the face of hockey in his hometown.

The St. Catharines native, 72, was at Chapters on Sunday to promote “Garden City Hockey Heroes,” his new 227-page book detailing the history of junior A hockey in his hometown.

At his side was Sullivan, who lives in Indian River and began his hockey career with the OHA junior A St. Catharines Teepees in 1947. Sullivan, who turns 80 on Dec. 24, later went on to play for the NHL’s Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers, finishing as a player with the latter in 1961.

The two spoke of days past and current and signed copies of the book, which goes for $59, for several people who stopped by.

Hewitt spoke with great admiration of all players including Sullivan, who played for the Teepees for parts of three seasons. Sullivan led the team in scoring his second year and was called up to the Bruins early the following campaign of 1949-50.

Hewitt wrote Sullivan was pulled up by Boston without consulting Teepees officials. It eventually led to St. Catharines severing its agreement with Boston and signing with Chicago’s AHL affiliate the Buffalo Bisons.

“Red changed the course of history in St. Catharines,” said Hewitt.

“He was a good scorer and gritty.”

Sullivan said he enjoyed his short tenure in St. Catharines but had one regret.

“I should have stayed there (the final season),” he said. “We were a good team and could have won it. I had a good times there.”

He was quoted in the book as saying: “That’s the best place I ever played hockey. If it wasn’t for St. Catharines I couldn’t have made it to the majors.”

It was one of many stops scheduled for Chapters outlets across the province with the next penciled in for Barrie, where Hewitt will be joined by Pierre Pilote, May 2, followed by Sudbury and Dale McCourt May 5. Others are in the works but not finalized.

Hewitt’s book is a history of 34 St. Catharines junior A clubs from 1943-1977. Featured are 700 pictures, artifacts, statistics, stories and biographies of 124 players who played in the city and at least one NHL game. Also gracing the pages are Hockey Hall of Fame members Marcel Dionne, who authored the foreward, Phil Esposito, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and former coach and general manger Rudy Pilous.

Hewitt’s self-described labour of love began five years ago and was realized with its official launching in St. Catharines on Dec. 3.

“It was the first time I did anything like this and it was a huge undertaking,” said the modest soft-spoken Hewitt, a retired high school history and economics teacher and St. Catharines Standard hockey columnist profiling junior A teams from the past. “I have always loved hockey and it was a fantastic journey. I enjoyed doing the research and the biggest challenge was the design. I was happy with the way it came together and it was a wonderful experience.”

Sullivan enjoyed being included in the book and sitting with Hewitt on Sunday.

“I liked working with John,” he said. “I enjoy being with a guy who knows the game. It was very special. It meant a lot to me.”

Hewitt has also written columns for the Niagara Falls Review and The Society For International Hockey Research.

He has a second book in the works, a history of junior A hockey in Niagara Falls, set to come out in 2010 and coincide with the opening of the new arena.

Hewitt also has a connection to Peterborough. He lived here for eight years, from 1941-49, from age five to 13. His father was a salesman for Silverwood Dairies at the time and the family moved around a lot. They lived on Gilmour Street and he attended Queen Mary Public School. He said he even delivered papers for The Peterborough Examiner.

“I grew up here and played hockey here,” he said. “I loved it here.”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it