It’s been an eventful journey to say the least for Prince George hockey legend Orville Claffey.
It all began in 1953 thanks to an ad from the Regina Leader-Post after getting cut by the Moose Jaw Canucks of the Western Canadian Junior League.
He read the article and saw the Prince George Lumbermen were in dire need of active players.
According to Claffey his long and successful journey got started after boarding the train.
“It got off on the wrong foot as I arrived in Prince George with only $10 in my pocket and I went to Chuck and Anita Stewart which were Shirley Bond’s parents and I had a cup of coffee and an order off toast and still had most of my money left but had no place to stay. Another guy put me up for two nights and then I found a house on 573 3rd avenue.”
Claffey’s early playing days with Lumbermen had no shortage of drama either.
“We were playing in the Simon Fraser where the Days Inn is and in 1956 it collapsed. Harry Thacker and another man were going to the Lotus Inn to have coffee and they looked back and heard a loud noise.”
Claffey’s Prince George playing career spanned a remarkable 55 years and in 2000 was inducted into the Canadian Adult Recreation Hockey Association Hall of Fame.
He also coached the local RCMP team from 1970-1975 and captured the National title in Regina in his final season behind the bench.
The local hockey legend has volunteered his time with both the Prince George Cougars and Spruce Kings junior hockey teams for the last 22 and 38 years respectively.
In 2012, he cracked the 500 game mark as an off-ice official in the WHL and was honoured by the Cougars in 2014 for reaching 20 years of service with the club.
Claffey was inducted into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday along with Nino Fabbro, Audrey Foster and the late Charlie Ghostkeeper.