Meet 'The Commish' of the Glovertown Oldtimers: 80-year-old Don Sparkes still laces his skates twice a week

CBC

13-04-2025

Hockey players across Newfoundland will tell you the Glovertown Arena is one of the coldest rinks around.
But it isn't slowing down Don Sparkes and his buddies from meeting twice a week during hockey season.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, Sparkes and the rest of the Glovertown Oldtimers play the 9 p.m. game — the last of the night.
At 80 years old, Sparkes says he's lucky to be playing at all.
Sparkes is one of the Oldtimers's original members, and co-founded the team in 2000, the same year the arena opened in town.
He started playing hockey as a boy, ripping up the frozen bays, before moving on to rec league in adulthood. When the new arena opened, he was 55.
The Oldtimers started as a handful of guys at first. But as players got older, they wanted a friendlier game — less rough-and-tumble, more camaraderie on the bench. Now, there are up to two dozen players every game.
"I think we got ... 10 on the side every night. And that's perfect," said Sparkes.
"The bunch we got here now, real gentlemen."
Sparkes credits his good health with these weekly hockey rituals, but it's not just about the exercise.
Goalie Kevin Noseworthy says he loves playing with Sparkes, who the guys call "The Commish," short for commissioner.
"He makes all the decisions. Just like [NHL commissioner Gary] Bettman. He organizes the social, brings the cards for Pass the Ace. Everything we do. He keeps us all alive."
Noseworthy said he puts him to work in the net, too.
"I think what amazes me about Don is even at his age now, he gets as excited about a goal, I think, as [Washington Capitals captain] Alex Ovechkin does," said Noseworthy.
The excitement started off earlier this season, with Sparkes adding more points to his record.
"Two minutes on the ice, scored the first goal. So that was pretty good. I was happy then," recalls Sparkes.
Kevin Blackmore, who is known as Buddy Wasisname in the music world, is also a faithful member of the team, and says he's inspired by Sparkes's energy on the ice.
"It's kind of remarkable that at the age of 80, he's so fit. And we figured the way he's going, he's probably good til 90, right?" said Blackmore.
And while most members of the team are over 50, there's one player that Sparkes and the crew welcome as an Oldtimers, though he's nowhere near their age.
Goalie Henry Poole started playing with the team when he was in Grade 10. He's the only paid member of the league, with Sparkes collecting toonies and loonies from the others after each game to give to Poole, who's now a senior — the high school kind.
"I think it might have been in Grade 11, they bought me a hockey stick for Christmas," Poole says.
Poole says despite the age gap, he's forged infallible friendships with his teammates.
This year's final game of the season will be Poole's last for a while, as he's set to graduate, but nobody expects The Commish to retire.
In fact, he's getting yet another duty underway: planning the end-of-season party.