2009 Inductees
1984 Pee Wee “C” Hockey Team
Thirteen proved to be a lucky number for the 1983-1984 Berwick Bruins Pee Wee “C” Team. Who knew at the beginning of the year that the thirteen young boys who suited up for Berwick would go on to win the provincial championship? As the year progressed, their coach, Robert Hiltz, saw their skills improve and their confidence grow as they practiced scoring, face-offs, and goalie management. Sponsored by Gordie Morse Trucking, the boys began to gel as a team. They won the Bridgetown Christmas Hockey Tournament in a tightly contested final where they defeated the host team.
Purdy Adams
Purdy Adams was born in 1920, the son of Charles and Ida Adams, and grew up on South Street in Berwick. His love of sports was evident as a young boy, and he remembers walking to South Berwick to play pond hockey. Once at the pond he put on his “spring” skates with magazines for shin pads and had a great time. In later years he played hockey for the Berwick School team and then for the Berwick Bruins. He was known as an excellent skater who could easily put the puck in the net. During one Bruins game, Purdy was the unfortunate recipient of serious facial cuts from an opponent's skates after checking him. Purdy was attended to by Dr R. A. Moreash, who arrived at the rink just as the accident happened; he was then taken to hospital.
Andy Hopkins
Born in Bear Point, Shelburne County, Andy discovered at an early age he loved sports and nothing would stop him from competing! He excelled at track and field (running a 10.6 in 100 yard dash). From 1949-1959, he attended The School for the Deaf in Halifax, returning to the South Shore, armed with the “Power to Believe”. Playing defence on his hometown hockey team, they would finish runner-up in the Yarmouth-Shelburne League in 1961-1962.
Peter Connell
Like most young military boys growing up around a base, Peter played hockey in the winter and baseball and golf in the summer first in Petawawa and then Greenwood. Sports came naturally to him. His skills developed and he was noted for his "smooth hands". Peter was a gifted goal scorer and an accurate passer. He was captain, leading scorer and team MVP in his hockey days at West Kings High School. He starred with the Greenwood Junior Bombers, the Berwick Bruins Intermediate team and the Grimshaw Huskies of the Alberta League. As a smooth fielding second baseman, he made the All-Star team in the Valley Fastball League. While with the Berwick Eassons he was a member of Berwick's famous Roger's Dodgers. Peter was also a steady golfer and recorded a hole-in-one at Paragon and reached a playoff in the South Berwick Invitational Golf Tournament.
1993-1994 Central Kings Gators High School Hockey Team
The 1993-94 Central Kings Gators hockey season started and ended with a bang. The Gators were a team with a mission, starting the 1993-94 campaign by outscoring their opponents 17-5 in the first two games. This Gators team could skate and score, and they terrorized the Valley High School Hockey League finishing second in league play. Their only regular season loss was to the eventual AAA provincial champions Kings-Edgehill.
1971 Berwick Alpines Men's Fastball Team
In 1971, Berwick decided to enter the Nova Scotia Senior “B” Playdowns. The game was popular and there were lots of good players around. Sponsorship was secured and the team entered the Valley Fastball League. This league was very competitive, comprised of exciting teams from three levels of play; Junior, Intermediate and Senior.
Mike Kinsman
Mike was born in Berwick in 1949 and began playing hockey at the age of eight on the Somerset Dam and Welsford Pond with his cousins and his two brothers, Brian and Phil. At age twelve, with the arrival of artificial ice in Berwick, he began playing hockey in the Berwick Minor Hockey program. Mike moved up through the Peewee, Bantam, and Midget programs, developing his skills as a great skater and talented scorer, always finding himself among the leading point-getters on the team. At age sixteen, while still Midget age, he was invited to play for the Halifax Junior Canadiens, the top Junior A team in the Maritimes. This team was comprised of the best junior age players in Nova Scotia and several top players from Quebec and Ontario. Two of Mike's teammates were Buster Harvey and Errol Thompson, both of whom went on to play in the NHL. The team played exhibition games every weekend against the top Junior teams in Quebec and Ontario in preparation for the Memorial Cup playdowns. The Canadiens won the Maritime Championship, defeating the Fredericton Red Wings and then defeating the Cornwall Royals in seven games. Their season ended when they lost the next round, in the Memorial Cup quarter finals, to the Shawinigan Falls Bruins.