MacDonald To PEI Sports Hall Of Fame

Mike MacDonald – probably the greatest Gold Cup and Saucer driver in history – is one of five inductees who will be declared members of the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame when it holds its induction ceremonies next mon

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Joining MacDonald in the Island sports shrine will be the ever-popular Vince Mulligan, stand-out hockey player and coach and builder at U.P.E.I; George “Dandy” Wood, baseball superstar from the late 19th century who is one of Canada’s greatest ever ballplayers; Walter “Windy” LePage, an outstanding all-round sportsman who set a 100-yard dash Maritime record in 1947; and the late Orin Carver, considered by many to be one of the greatest hockey players this province has produced, and a Memorial Cup winner with the Barrie Flyers.

The induction ceremony – which is sponsored once again by the P.E.I Mutual Insurance Company - is scheduled for the Charlottetown Driving Park on the evening of Friday, September 25. Ticket details will be announced shortly.

It is fitting that the 2009 inductions should take place at the Charlottetown Driving Park, which has been the scene of Mike MacDonald’s greatest triumphs. The Charlottetown born driver and trainer has won the won the region’s biggest race five times, and has competed in an amazing 29 of the 49 Gold Cup and Saucer finals, since his first appearance in 1973. Aside from winning, MacDonald has been sending top horses into Old Home Week for almost 40 years, and has done more for putting Old Home Week, and the Gold Cup and Saucer race, on the map than any other individual.

He has campaigned at all of the major centres, racking-up a career-win total of more than 2200, earning over 13 million dollars in purses, and has set numerous track records throughout his career, one of the most notable coming in 1991 when he twice broke the C.D.P record in a 48 hour span.

He has been a mentor for many of the region’s top drivers, including two-time Canadian Driver of the Year Mark MacDonald, and it is fitting that in the 50th year of the Gold Cup and Saucer, Mike MacDonald should be recognized with induction into the Prince Edward Island Sports Hall of Fame.

George “Dandy” Wood was believed to have been an American ball-player before research by historians and genealogists unearthed the fact that he was born in Lot 49, in 1858, before moving to Boston in 1867.

Records show that he was the first Major League Baseball player from the Island, and the 4th from Canada, and he enjoyed an outstanding 13 year career in the majors, which started in 1880 with the Worcester Brown Stockings.

Primarily a left-fielder, he was the National League home run champion for 1882 while with the Detroit Wolverines, and even today he is sixth all-time in triples for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was part of the Baseball World Tour in 1888-89, and led the League for five consecutive seasons in home runs by a left-fielder.

At the conclusion of his career Wood had played in 1280 games, sixth among Canadian ball-players, and is second only to Larry Walker in many hitting categories. He is expected to be a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in the very near future.

Walter “Windy” LePage was one of the most dominant athletes in the region during the post-WWII era.

In a period of rejuvenation for amateur sport, LePage was one of the Island’s brightest stars in track and field, rugby and basketball, with one of his outstanding achievements coming in 1947 when he won the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds flat at the Maritime Track and Field Championship in Halifax. In 1948 he was instrumental in the Abegweits Track and Field team winning the Maritime Championship for the first time since 1927.

A varsity stand-out with Mount Allison where he earned six athletic “A”s, LePage was also an outstanding rugby and basketball player, regularly topping the scoring the charts in the popular and competitive Island leagues.

Charlottetown’s Vince Mulligan is a well-known face on the Island sport scene, having been instrumental in coaching and building U.P.E.I Panther teams for almost 30 years.

As a coach and builder at U.P.E.I nobody has done more than Mulligan – he was instrumental in both the men’s and women’s soccer programs when the sport was in it is infancy on the Island, and he has been involved in basketball and women’s hockey.

It was as a coach of the men’s hockey team he enjoyed the greatest success, winning three A.U.A.A titles in the 1980’s and winning 115 games.

It was Vince’s leadership and treatment of his players that earned him such respect from all those that he coached, qualities he demonstrated during his own sporting career. He was an excellent football player, and was an all-star defenceman on four occasions for St Dunstan’s in the mid-1960s. His induction into the Hall of Fame will guarantee a large turn-out at the ceremony.

Many experts believe Orin Carver to be one of the finest hockey talents ever to come from this province.

Carver is remembered by many for his outstanding skating and stick work, honed on the ponds and rinks of Charlottetown. His talent stood out early, first at West Kent, and then with the Charlottetown Midget Abbies in the late 1940’s, whom he led to a Maritime title.

His junior years were spent first in Nova Scotia with Halifax St. Mary’s, before joining the Barrie Flyers in 1953, where he won a Memorial Cup with illustrious team mates such as Orval Tessier, Don McKenney, Doug Mohns and Don Cherry.

Carver’s senior hockey career was even more impressive, becoming one of the best power forwards to play in the Maritime Major Hockey League and Atlantic Coast Senior Hockey League, first with the Charlottetown Islanders and then the Moncton Hawks. He also played in Newfoundland where he was revered in both Grand Falls and Corner Brook following championship seasons.

An absolute gentleman who was respected and admired throughout his life, Orin Carver was President of the Host Society for the 1991 Canada Games, and in 2001 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

(PEI Sports Hall of Fame)