Go Dunlops go!

By John Shoesmith

As the Ontario Hockey Association’s Whitby Dunlops looks toward its first play-offs in three decades, team president and CA Mike Laing becomes part of a legend. He helped resurrect the Dunlops, one of the most successful amateur hockey teams in Canadian history, 50 years after its original formation.

“It’s unbelievable what the Dunlops name inspires,” says Laing, 56, partner at Laing & Rohr Chartered Accountants in Oshawa, Ont., reflecting on the team’s history. Led in the late 1950s by former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Sid Smith and Boston Bruins president Harry Sinden, the “Dunnies” captured the Allen Cup, awarded to the country’s top amateur team, twice in three seasons and won the world championships in 1958. But when the NHL expanded and began depleting the Senior A ranks in the late ’60s, the league eventually folded.

When the OHA decided to revive the team and bring Senior A hockey to long-neglected Whitby, Ont., it thought of Laing and his lengthy hockey résumé — from player with the famed Toronto Marlies Junior squad in the late 1960s to owner/president of the Junior A Bowmanville Eagles as recently as three years ago. Only problem was, Laing wasn’t interested. “When I sold the Eagles, I didn’t want to get over my head with hockey again. I wanted to have a life,” he says. But like a power forward working the puck in the corners, the OHA persisted and Laing was persuaded. As president, he oversees hockey operations and handles the bulk of media relations.

The Dunlops’ revival has been a great success, both on and off the ice. By the 15th game, the team was tied for the league lead, and its home games — with no ticket priced more than $8 — routinely attract 1,200 spectators. It had also reached its projected annual revenue target by the fifth game. Moreover, it has managed to leverage the Dunnies history: a dozen members of the original Dunlops attended the sold-out opening night, and it raised a new 1958 world championship banner to the rafters. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the place,” says Laing.