1994 - THE YEAR MOSCOW CAME TO MARMORA
/The central Red Army team Photo submitted by Mary K Pronk
Thanks to an inquiry by researcher, Gabor Szekeres of Hungary, the forgotten story of the CSKA Moscow junior ice hockey team playing in Madoc and Marmora, Ontario, has come to light.
Gabor found an old Toronto Star article date June 1, 1994 mentioning that the Russian junior hockey team will play in Marmora on June 02. She writes “I found information in another newspaper in Russian that it was not just a game, but a tournament lasting several days.” Gabor was particularly interested in the hockey jerseys being worn by the teams.
Not long after we posted on Facebook asking for any information on this tournament, we received the lowdown. The Russians came first in June (1994) for two weeks and later came back for two months.
Mary Pronk of Queensborough writes, “I billeted them both times. And through that made friends with them. They left back to Russia but invited my son, Evan (Hailstone) for three weeks to stay in Russia with them. He spent one week in the Russian Red Army hockey camp and the next two weeks one week with Andrea (Petrunin) and the next with Max ( Solovyev )She adds, “The Russian team came under the guidance and sponsorship of Daryl Kramp and Doug Baumken.”
Andrea Petrunin, evan Pronk, Max Solovyev,
Doug Baumken was the representative of the Eastern Ontario “AAA” Hockey Association and worked alongside representative and interpreter, , Alexander Bekpolsky of Thornhill.
The Central Red Army Bantam team began their North American tour arriving in Madoc on May 27th. They played in Madoc and Marmora, Georgian Bay, Lindsay and Ajax, Ottawa, Montreal and finally Boston, against a college team.
The second arrival of the Russian team was in December of the same year. In a line up of 30 games in 52 days, the Russians won 22 games, and enjoyed a New Year’s Eve party in Cooper, Ontario. This tour included Georgetown, Burlington, Hamilton, Timmins and Brampton.
Sergei & Andrea playing Sega in THE PRONK home.
But good hockey was not the only memorable outcome. While Daryl Kramp and Doug Baumken described the outstanding hockey plays, billeting families (Mary Pronk, Bill & Beth Haggerty, Curt & Micki McLean, and the Miller family) remember all the wonderful moments with the boys in their home, touring the area and shops, and developing long lasting relationships.
GIFT OF A SIGNED HOCKEY STICK TO MATT CUDDY
