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Hockey
Many League and Provincial titles
Western Canadian Championship 1955-56
Scored the “Fastest Three Goals”
in competitive hockey (20 sec) 1956
From 1952-1980
 Larry
Hodgson was born in Hobbema (now Maskwacis). When Larry was six he,
like the other children on the reserve, attended the Ermineskin Indian
Residential School. For Larry, the positive aspect of the eleven years
he spent in residential school was learning how to play hockey and
baseball. He developed a passion for competitive sports and his skill
level allowed him to play on teams in both hockey and baseball in his
home community, in Wetaskiwin, in other Alberta centres and in Europe.
Larry has passed on his love of sports to his children and grandchildren
as well as other youngsters in Maskwacis. He has been involved with
hockey almost all of his life either playing, coaching kids, mentoring
coaches, working in hockey schools, or supporting the young people of
his community. As an athlete Larry’s “claim to fame” is scoring the
fastest three goals in competitive hockey.
Hat Trick
Fastest in Competitive
Hockey
Three Goals in Twenty Seconds
When he was seventeen and
still in residential school Larry played for Al Arner’s Juvenile
Baseball Team in Wetaskiwin. In order to get to Wetaskiwin, someone
from Wetaskiwin picked him up at the school and drove him back and forth
to games and practices. Over the years Larry's impressive baseball
skills allowed him to play in the summer with various teams depending on
where he was living and working. He played in Grande Prairie,
Wetaskiwin and even played for the North Edmonton Rockets, a team made
up of hockey players.
Awarded the Manley
Memorial Trophy for Best All-round and Most Co-operative Juvenile player
 Once
Larry left the residential school he started working as a labourer for
local farmers and then got a job at Pahal Motors in Wetaskiwin. While
working in Wetaskiwin, Larry played hockey for the Wetaskiwin Juvenile
Colonels in 1951-52 and 1952-53. In 1953 he was awarded the Manley
Memorial Trophy for the best all-round and most co-operative Juvenile
player. The next year Larry was out of the Juvenile age group and he
played for Hobbema in a newly formed Senior League against Wetaskiwin,
Gwynne, and Millet. The Hobbema team finished the season at the top of
the league. The next year he played for the Wetaskiwin Colonels. After
attending SAIT for an automobile mechanics course, he then played for
the Ponoka Stampeders. In 1955-56 Larry helped the Stampeders win the
Provincial title as well as the Western Canada Championships. 1956 was
also the year that Larry set the record for the fastest three goals in
competitive hockey when, in a league game in Ponoka, he scored 3 goals
in twenty seconds, a record that stands to this day (2016). The next two
years (1956-57 and 1957-58) Larry played for the Grande Prairie
Athletics. In his first year with the Athletics they won the North &
South Peace Country Senior Hockey Championships for the first time and
followed it up with another win the second year. Larry also played in
Vegreville for one season.
Lured to Europe's Minor
Professional League
 Larry
did have offers to play minor professional hockey in Omaha and Fort
Wayne but because he wanted to travel the world he chose to play
professionally in England. In 1960-61, Larry played in the British Ice
Hockey League for the Brighton Tigers. The Tigers played against teams
in England and also traveled to Amsterdam, the occupied Czech Republic
and Germany to play a circuit of European teams.
After his stint in Europe
Larry’s work took him to the North and again he played hockey, this time
for Peace River Stampeders. Larry moved back to Maskwacis, married and
began to raise his family. As Larry was involved with his three sons as
they passed through the minor hockey system, he became interested in the
coaching aspect of the game. In 1973 he attended his first clinic, a
Masters Coaches Clinic run by Fred Shero. By attending various coaching
clinics he eventually achieved his Coaching Level 5. Larry mentored
other coaches by teaching coaches Level 1 and 2 in different Alberta
towns. Larry also coached a Junior A team. Additionally, for a number
of years Larry ran the Four Band Arena in Maskwacis. His duties
included making up coaching plans for the coaches, setting practice
times, and in general running the Maskwacis Minor Hockey Association.
Another administrative position in Larry’s resume was managing the Panee
Agriplex overseeing twenty-eight Rodeos.
Coaching, Mentoring Youth,
Yet Makes Time for Rodeos
 Later
in his career Larry played for the Hobbema Oil Chiefs with his two
brothers, Ted and Harley, in a local senior league. Besides league play,
the Oil Chiefs traveled to many “old timer” tournaments in Canada as
well as an international tournament in Germany where the team won the
Silver medal. He was also a member of the Wetaskiwin Old Timers for
three or four years, again played in many Canadian tournaments, and also
attended a tournament in Holland. Now, as an octogenarian, Larry’s
involvement in hockey is following his two grandsons. One plays at
the University of Alberta and the other in the Alberta Junior Hockey
League. No doubt these boys inherited their “hockey genes” from their
grandfather.
Larry grew up and played
hockey in an era not many of us are familiar with. For the times and
situation his achievements are outstanding and made possible due to his
exceptional skill, his work ethic, and love of the game. We are pleased
to induct Larry into the Wetaskiwin & County Sports Hall of Fame for his
lifetime involvement in sport and the contributions he has made to
youth.
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