Silver Stick Hockey Tournament memories in Sudbury run deep.

For those of the earliest of eras following the launch of the regional playdowns in northern Ontario circa 1969, the visions that are conjured up involve a plethora of games jammed between Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Picture World Juniors hockey – on a much smaller scale.

Peter Michelutti Sr remembers those days well, even if his own involvement with the event he has now led for more than two decades did not begin until the early nineties.

In fact, it wasn’t long thereafter that the lifelong Sudburian and long-time local businessman was among those who spearheaded the change to an early December event, which now backs into November as entries that exceed 120 teams annually in the nickel city have forced the Sudbury Silver Stick to section off into two distinct playdowns (A & AA).

Michelutti can certainly talk Silver Stick hockey for a good, long time. Fact is, the 74 year-old eldest of two brothers in the well-known Sudbury family (parents Enzo “Mitch” and Dina; younger brother Danny) can pretty much talk hockey of any kind when it comes to the winter sport of choice for so many in these parts.

A Sudbury west-ender at heart, his youth spent in the area of Douglas and Albinson and venturing over to Byng playground and the like, Michelutti first garnered a taste of commercialism via his grandparents, proud owners of Superior Beverages and home to Sun Crest and Tropic Cola soda.

Neighbourhood ball hockey and baseball games were the norm, with the move to the midget ranks that played out of the Sudbury Arena at 7:00 a.m. marking the first real jump to that next level of competition. All of which coincided, of course, with entry to the secondary school sports – and a career with the Sheridan Tech Blue Devils, in the case of Michelutti.

His high-school years dotted with involvement in hockey, football and track and field, Michelutti was named Athlete of the Year in his senior year (though authentication of same remains sketchy – we note, tongue in cheek).

Truth be told, the super friendly gent who spent more than 30 years behind various benches in the hockey coaching ranks can point his grandchildren to the SDSSAA website and confirmation of the Angelo DeStefano Trophy he was awarded in 1972, recognized as the best defenceman in Sudbury high-school hockey.

Immediately upon graduation, Michelutti joined his father’s business (Carpetland), later crossing over to the End of the Roll moniker that he and his son (Peter Jr) are most associated with these days. The support of the Michelutti clan in the landscape that is the Sudbury Sports market is well established indeed.

Still in his early twenties, Michelutti was approached by hockey acquaintance Bruce Killah, the Sudbury Minor Hockey Association in search of a mid-season replacement to their bantam coaching ranks, with Marcel Clements finding his time far too limited to continue with the minor hockey crew that year.

It was a start for Michelutti, though his involvement surged forward when he partnered with Doug Bonhomme, a frequent across-the-ice opponent, up to that point. The pair were mainstays with the SMHA progressive hockey teams before stepping up to lead the Cambrian Golden Shield for some 15 years, a run that included a national collegiate title.

“We did well at Cambrian because we recruited well,” said Michelutti. “Doug knew all of the guys who were finishing OHL.”

As though he needed more on his plate, the man who was one of the owners of the Sudbury Wolves at a time when that grouping reached double digits – if you include the various people who owned partial shares of the franchise – Michelutti found himself pulled from SMHA Board duties to assist with what was by then a very well established northern hockey tradition.

Gabe Guzzo had made the original reach-out but it was the consummate gentleman that was Donny Stack who worked most closely with his new “hockey operations” partner at a time that would certainly befuddle current tournament organizers.

“Donny and I did the registration and back then; there were no computers,” Michelutti recalled. “Everything was done on the phone, or people would mail or fax stuff in. Schedules were faxed out.”

The Silver Stick office in Don Lita Park (aka – the basement of the Stack residence) was a constant buzz of activity throughout the month of November, in particular. Thankfully, the advent of the internet coincided to some degree with the growth of the Sudbury Regional Silver Stick.

Allies were developed within the expansive group that is the volunteer network that Michelutti leans upon to ensure that the tournament runs as smoothly as possible, with Lance Hill jumping aboard with a huge helping hand in the area of logistics.

“Lance and I can do a lot of the pre-tournament work and then the arena captains take over and can follow the script,” said Michelutti. “But there are always things that will come up.”

When your involvement in the local sports scene spans more than a half century, things most certainly will come up indeed.