Orv “Crazy Legs” Claffey was already a veteran of senior hockey when he took 16-year-old Dave Bellamy under his wing.
It was 1957 and Claffey and Bellamy were teammates in the inaugural season of the Prince George Mohawks, who were still without a permanent home after the roof of the Prince George Civic Arena collapsed in February 1956.
“He was a pretty good hockey player but he had an awkward type of skater, I thought, and I always called him Crazy Legs Claffey,” said Bellamy. “He was 23, seven years older than me, and he was kind of my mentor. We travelled by car and we roomed four to a room in two double beds, so guys were sleeping together. That‘s the way it was done in them days.”
Claffey, a Prince George Sports Hall of Fame member inducted in the pioneer athlete category in 2016, died last Tuesday at age 89 at Simon Fraser Lodge. He had been struggling with dementia for several years.
Born in Brooking in southern Saskatchewan in 1934, Claffey grew up skating on the outdoor rinks in nearby Radville. He was a late cut of the Moose Jaw Canucks in 1953 when he was 19 and he saw a newspaper ad and found out the Prince George Lumbermen senior squad was looking for players. He got on a train and with $10 in his wallet he found what he was after in Prince George. There was plenty of work and his skills as left winger earned him plenty of playing time with the Lumbermen, his team for three seasons from 1953-56 until the arena disaster that led to the team folding.
Claffey went on to play for the Mohawks from 1957-68 and he finished his Cariboo Hockey League career with the Houston Luckies in 1969. He and Bellamy were teammates for several years in the Prince George Rec Hockey Association and in 1975 they started the Mohawk Oldtimers group, playing against each other on Monday and Thursday nights.
Claffey played competitive hockey in Prince George for 17 years and recreationally for many years beyond that. After two knee replacements he stopped playing for the Rusty Nuts oldtimers at age 77, he played the game for 55 years.
“When we used to go to McBride they always gave a prize for the oldest players and Orville always was one of the oldest players,” said Bellamy. “But there was one other guy with the Rusty Nuts named Duffy Johnson, who was a few months older. Duffy would show up and Orv wouldn’t win the prize.”
Bellamy remembers Claffey for his work ethic, which went well beyond the hockey rink. Claffey worked at the Prince George Planer Mill and Eagle Lake Sawmill as a heavy equipment operator until he branched into sales in 1962. He often held two jobs, filling shifts at the BC provincial liquor store, Westfair Foods and as interim manager of Lloyd’s Drive In, a hamburger restaurant on 20th Avenue.
Friendly and outgoing. Claffey found his career niche as a lumber salesman with Sinclar Enterprises, which operated Lakeland Mill, and he worked there from 1968 until he retired in 1993.
Claffey learned how to balance books while serving 19 years as treasurer of the Mohawks and was well-qualified in his role as vice-commissioner of the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League in the years the Spruce Kings were in the league from 1991-96. He also was a familiar face as the penalty box timekeeper for the Cougars and Spruce Kings and volunteered his services for well over 500 games in each league.
Claffey wore the stripes as a hockey referee for 35 years and during that time he Gord Cruikshank offered free clinics for aspiring referees, traveling the region to help young officials better their skills. He was the coordinator of on-ice officials at the 2001 Air Canada Cup midget national championships and held a similar role for the 2007 Royal Bank Cup national junior A hockey championship.
In 2000, Claffey was inducted into the Canadian Adult Recreational Hockey Association Hall of Fame.
Then in 2016, he joined the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame, inducted in the pioneer athlete category.
“He did a lot of hockey,” said Bellamy.
Claffey also excelled on the fastball diamond and played competitively for decades in several city leagues while also serving as an umpire.
He was well known as for his volunteer efforts for the Elders Citizen Recreation Association at their headquarters on 10th Avenue.
“He gave back to the community, he was very involved,” said Bellamy.
The family is planning a private service for a later date. Memorial donations can be made to the Alzheimer Society of B.C. or a charity of your choice.
