A longtime Cochrane hockey referee got the surprise of his 82-year-old life last weekend when hockey legend Ron MacLean showed up at one of his games.
“I really did not expect it,” said John Czuy, who has played, reffed, watched and loved the game for most of his life. “(MacLean) said, ‘You should be in bed by 8 o’clock – he gave me hell.”
Lindsay Leigh Kimmett Foundation founder Kelly Kimmett said he was the one to ask MacLean for the favour during a Rogers Hometown Hockey event at Townhall Public House on Sunday afternoon.
MacLean spent the day in Cochrane as part of the travelling Sportsnet festival, and Kimmett just happened to be playing in an “old timer’s” game at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre on Sunday night, right next door to the Rogers’ mobile broadcast studio.
Kimmett took a chance that MacLean – who is himself a Level 5 referee with Hockey Canada – might take the time to say hello to Czuy.
“I asked him what is his schedule was (and) he said … he was done at 8:30 p.m. and wasn’t flying out until Monday morning,” recalled Kimmett. “I said, ‘If you have a minute could you stop in?’ And he said, ‘Absolutely I’ll be there.’”
Sure enough, as Czuy prepared to ref the game between the Cochrane Ranchmen Oldtimers and Flying Pylons, MacLean appeared.
“John turned around and his mouth just dropped open,” said Kimmett.
Czuy said he and MacLean spent about 20 minutes reminiscing about the days when MacLean played in Red Deer – and Czuy reffed in the same city – and the hockey legend presented the Cochranite with an autographed copy of one of his books.
The teams then sang For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow and posed for a few photos before it was time for MacLean to go.
Kimmett said Czuy was over the moon about the unexpected visitor.
“The smile on his face (in the photo) kind of tells it all.”
