Golden Girls: LONDON 60+ Women’s Team wins National Ice Hockey Championship On August 29, 2024, London’s Women’s 60+ hockey team became the National Champions at the Canada +55 Games. The games took place this year in Quebec City and featured more than 3000 athletes from across Canada who competed in over 20 events. London’s Team Chaos reached the finals without having surrendered a goal, besting teams from BC, Alberta, and the East Coast. The gold medal game, against rivals from Mississauga, was won in a 1 – 0 shootout after a scoreless regulation time and overtime. The team is made up of women from the London area. They are all 60 years of age or older and share a passion for playing hockey at any age. Four members of the team reside east of Adelaide. Dayna Dann is no stranger to National Championships. She is a three-time Canadian Champion and a world champion, representing Canada in 1987 before women’s hockey was officially part of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). “I have to say though, this National Championship ranks near the top. We came together in such a short time. Individuals worked on their game. We were on the ice four days a week. Other teams commented that we played as a unit and had superior conditioning.” Deb Flaherty backstopped each game in goal. Donuts. That’s what she brought to each game. Big Fat Donuts! (ie: Deb didn’t surrender a goal!). After stopping the third shooter in the final game, the team poured off the bench to celebrate. Deb was so dialled into the game she didn’t know it was over until the ref signalled the win. “We played defence as a team, we won as a team. This is amazing. I can’t say enough about all the people that got us here. The London District Senior Games Association, our coaches and the friends that we practiced against – younger, faster women and players from the Huff and Puff.” One such friend is Stan Norman – the team’s experienced coach. He has coached for years and didn’t hesitate to say yes when approached. His quiet and calm demeanour helped to ground the team on the fundamentals. Every pregame talk consisted of “take away time and space, keep your feet moving, short passes, and watch the pucks through the middle.” Roxanne Petten, who has also coached for decades, was able to help in so many different ways – from being on the Human Society aricle
friends team to assisting in practices. Her positive presence on the bench in Quebec City added an extra depth. After each shift she would encourage, instruct, and provide focus to the women. Her pregame pep talk consisted of, “Offence wins games. Defence wins championship. You got this. You did the hard work to get here. Just play your game.” The next Canada Senior Games take place in Winnipeg, 2026. The Golden Girls plan to be back at it to defend their title. The Humane Society is very pleased to be in its new location just on the outskirts of OEV. The new space, called the Old Oak Animal Campus, will be open to community members, and act as a hub for education, wellness and innovation. The Humane Society is happy to welcome Tracy Vink-Talor D.V.M. as their medical director and is truly grateful to their supporters for their help in raising funds to create this much-needed space. The new location at 1414 Dundas will allow for 32,000 square feet to help care for the animals in our community.
Page 8 Old East Villager November/December 2024 Above: London’s Senior Women’s Hockey team – Team Chaos. (Photo by Grace Flaherty). Right top to bottom: Dayna Dann, Roxanne Pette and Deb (Van Brenk) Flaherty, Jim Norman, and pre-teen Jane Roy, now Co-Director of the London Food Bank, an acccomplished fine artist and also a national hockey champion.
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