It’s being billed as a "Year of Celebration," the 50th year that the Quincy Youth Hockey Association has been in operation.
From the Family Holiday Skate on Dec. 16, to the Alumni Game on Jan. 27, to the Year End Jamboree in February, plus games, practices and lessons across all levels, it’ll be a winter to reminisce, appreciate and acknowledge the role the organization has played for generations of hockey players on the South Shore.
The Quincy Youth Arena opened in 1973, riding the tidal wave of the Bobby Orr-fueled hockey popularity in the region, the Boston Bruins coming off their second Stanley Cup championship in three seasons.
"It was really a different time back then," said Bob Roche, director of hockey for Quincy Youth Hockey. "The popularity of hockey was unbelievable."
The arena serves as the home for high school teams from Quincy and North Quincy, as well as the Quincy/North Quincy cooperative girls program and many leagues on the South Shore.
The arena also is the home to ProEdge Hockey Development, which is operated by former pros Doug Nolan, one of the best players to ever come out of the city, and former Boston University standout Jon Coleman, who played 13 years of pro hockey in the AHL and Europe.
Nolan, who grew up in Quincy, played 11 pro seasons in the U.S. and in Europe after a standout career at UMass-Lowell.
"When you walk into Quincy Youth Arena, any time of day, there’s somebody on the ice," said Ted Walsh, the head coach at Quincy High School since 2013 and a longtime assistant to Bob Sylvia before that. "To me, as someone who grew up in Quincy, it was always special to be a hockey player in Quincy, knowing that one day you were going to compete for your high school team and play against rival North Quincy. That was special."
The two rivals share not just the rink, but the player pool that comes up through Quincy Youth Hockey and membership in the Patriot League. North Quincy has held the upper hand in recent years; Raiders coach Matt Gibbons also is president of the QYHA.
But the coaching icon in the city is Sylvia, who spent 44 seasons behind the Quincy High School bench (much of it while younger brother Jim was over-seeing the program at nearby Hanover). Both are members of the Massachusetts State Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
"I refer to him as the hockey icon of the city of Quincy," said Walsh, an assistant coach from 1989 to 2010. "I don’t care who you are — you give 44 years to a team, you love hockey.
"He was always a great mentor to me. What I learned from him, more than anything, forget the X’s and O’s, was how to communicate with high school kids and players.
Sylvia, who played college hockey at Boston University, captaining a good team in 1964-65, told the Patriot Ledger after his retirement in 2010 one of his biggest thrills was taking his Presidents team to the state tournament in 1978 at the old Boston Garden.
"Just the idea that regular city kids had the chance to skate on the same ice as Bobby Orr and the Bruins — and to see those kids out there — was the biggest thrill I ever had," he said.
The city is filled with men and women who gave decades to helping the sport and the kids who played it. Like Bruce Wood, who spent 31 years as president of Quincy Youth Hockey before passing away in 2016. Like founder and former president Bob Hayes. Like Joe McConville, an instructor in the arena’s Learn to Skate and Learn to Play programs for over 30 years. Like Lorraine Rooney, an employee for more than 40 years.
Maybe the city isn’t as captivated by hockey the way it was in the 1970s, when Orr and the Bruins were kings on a frozen throne. But across all levels, it remains special.
"I still see the pride through my players that I felt when I played," said Walsh. "It’s done a little different, but it still means a lot."
