Mils 100th Anniversary Wrap

Alright, don't think I'll be typing out all 4 of those COMPLETE interviews tonight, there's nearly half an hour's worth of audio there... but here's a condensed version, and what you'll hear on the sports Monday, and maybe a little more throughout the week, likely during the 5:05 Community Sports Calendars.
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Current local Millionaires like Austin Krahenbil, Tyson Melnychuk and Jarret Waldbauer were there, and the alumni stretched all the way back to the 1950-51 Mils' Senior team that went to the Allan Cup Final. One of the members from that club was 79 year old Wally Beckman, who travelled back from Lethbridge, Alberta.

"The fans here were terrific. Even though we lost the series by one goal, when we got home we had the most wonderful welcome. We paraded through the city and went to City Hall. We were presented with rings, and that made us really feel great."

Beckman says very few teammates are still living from the 1950-51 Senior Mils, but he was happy to see some familiar faces over the weekend.

The first ever goaltender of the Junior Mils was also in attendance, and that was Don Hamilton who first came to Melville in 1955.

"This is fantastic. Everyone's done a wonderful job. The support the entire alumni has had here, it's been a wonderful weekend. I brought my 40-year-old son Dean, when we heard about it he said 'Dad, we're going,' and, here we are."

Hamilton says seeing the Mils still having success today makes him proud to be the first ever goaltender on the junior squad.

"It's a big honour for me, but a lot of good goaltenders came after me, the Ron Hextall's, guys like that were better goaltenders than me, but I carry the honour very seriously and I appreciate it."

During his time with the Millionaires, Hamilton played with the likes of John Ferguson and Merv Kuryluk.

The headlining speaker was Brian Propp. 425 goals, 1004 points in the NHL, most of them coming with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Neudorf native played just one season in Melville, before making the jump to Brandon in the Western Hockey League, where he put up well over 100 points in all 3 seasons he was there. As a 15 year old with the Mils, Propp scored 76 goals, and called it a great spring board to bigger and better things.

"I look at it as playing with great teammates, guys who respected how each other played and played for each other. A really good coach in Gerry James, who taught us the positioning of the game, taught us discipline, taught us the physical fitness aspect of it. You start there, and it really helps as your career goes a little bit further."

Propp's still very much involved in the NHL, and with the Flyers... he's now their Colour Analyst for each and every radio broadcast.

Another popular speaker was a current NHLer... Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brett Clark. Clark talked about the old Melville Stadium and the atmosphere he recalled being back in barn over the weekend.

"The seats are nice and close to the glass. It's like going to the old Chicago Stadium or the Boston Gardens, where the fans are right on top of you. That helped the team win a lot of games over the years for sure. It's just a good atmosphere to come into every night, I loved it, every time you stepped out on the ice you felt you had a chance to win with the fans behind you."

The Wapella product was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 1996, and is entering his 5th season in Colorado.

Clark and Propp entertained the crowd with a hot stove interview with M.C. Kevin Karius, who also had a chat with coaching legend Gerry James, along with Metro Prystai and Merv Kuryluk.