Bob Bennett has been playing hockey all of his life.
At the age of 93, that’s a lot of seasons.
“What makes me play hockey? Well, camaraderie,” he said.
Bennett plays alongside a group of retirees at the Sackville Community Arena, outside Halifax, every week.
He’s been doing it for almost five years now, and as one might imagine, he’s the oldest person on the team.
“I’ve never seen anybody fighting. They don’t get that serious. They’re all the same as me, trying to stay active and have some fun,” he said.
Bennett’s love for the sport began in his hometown of Point Anne, Ont., where he worked on his skills playing while with his neighbour Bobby and his father.
That Bobby happened to be Bobby Hull — who would eventually become a Hockey Hall of Famer.
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“Bobby Hull’s father was the best hockey player in the area. And I got to play on the line with him when I was 16,” Bennett recalled.
“But his thing was like, you know, as soon he got on the ice, you would hear him say, ‘Hey! Give it to me!’ because he wanted the puck.”
Bennett went on to join the navy when he was 19, and served a year in Korea. Over the decades, he’s had a family, fought colon cancer, and has many stories to share.
He says even his cardiologist and doctors are amazed he plays hockey.
He says the sport “gets him out of the house,” and he enjoys seeing the guys. His teammate, Keith McLean, who turns 90 in a week, says it’s the friendship that keeps him suiting up too.
“Camaraderie in the dressing room after and before the game, that’s good,” said McLean.
“Because they’re all a bunch of great guys you’re playing with, right?”
Another teammate, Charlie Jones, says he admires Bennett’s grit.
“It’s an inspiration. Everybody says that. God, if I ever turn 90 and I can still skate, you know, it’s a milestone.”
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