The late hockey legend Pat Stapleton now has a permanent presence in Sarnia, along with the warm place many in the city where he was born have for him in their hearts.
Stapleton’s widow, Jackie, cut a ribbon Saturday to officially reopen the former Sarnia Arena renamed in her late husband’s honor after she and other family members marched under the raised hockey sticks of an honor guard of Sarnia Legionnaires players lining the sidewalk on Brock Street.
“It’s a special honor for the Stapleton family,” said Pat Stapleton’s son, Mike Stapleton, who also played in the NHL.
“He loved Sarnia,” he said. “He loved the people of Sarnia. . . it’s a special place for him.”
Pat Stapleton played two seasons with the original Sarnia Legionnaires and helped the team win two championships before moving on in a career that included eight seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks in the1960s and 70s, and being named a member of the 1972 Summit Series against a team from the Soviet Union.
“Mom brought out the real jersey today,” Mike Stapleton said about the Team Canada hockey sweater his mother wore for the ceremony. “That’s the original jersey that dad wore.”
Pat Stapleton settled in Strathroy. He died in 2020 at age 79.
The campaign to change the name of the 1940s-era arena on Brock Street to the Pat Stapleton Arena was led by Sarnia’s Brian Keelan who launched a petition and raised nearly $30,000 in donations.
“It’s amazing the number of people who were influenced by him,” Keelan said.
The arena has signs with the new name and a large sign facing Brock Street with an image of Stapleton taken from a painting by local artist Michael Slotwinski that was commissioned for the project.
“The whole building looks great,” Mike Stapleton said.
He said his father’s reaction to the honor would likely be that it wasn’t necessary “but he’d be smiling down today, for sure.”
Along with the signs, there is a graphic mounted in the arena lobby telling the story of Stapleton’s career, along with some game photos.
“They wanted to charge me $16,000 to have those photos for eight years,” Keelan said about what he was initially told when he approached the NHL.
So Keelan phoned retired Kerry Fraser, a Sarnia native and retired NHL referee, who made some calls.
Keelan said league representatives called him back a few days later and said, “I don’t know who the hell you know, but you’ve got these things free, no charge, for 20 years.”
Before the ribbon-cutting, Keelan read notes to the crowd from several of Stapleton’s hockey colleagues, including Summit Series goalie Ken Dryden who said, “Speaking on behalf of Team Canada, we all support your project as we have throughout, because we all support Pat. . . Sarnia will be proud, the Stapletons will be proud, as everyone should be.”
The ceremony was followed by a Sarnia Junior Alumni Hockey Game in the arena featuring Sarnia players from the 1960s, 70s and 80s.