FOR anyone who has spent time, from the 1970s on, taking in games at the Fort William Gardens, someone you’d instantly recognize back in the day was the one and only Darrell Clarke.
Joining the local Twins senior side as a stick boy in the early days of Thunder Bay, Clarke would become an institution with the club for nearly two decades, followed by time with the city’s Colonial Hockey League franchise and eventually with the Fort William North Stars of the SIJHL.
Clarkie, as he is affectionately known, was right there for all five of the Twins’ Allan Cup Canadian senior championships as well as the three Colonial Cup crowns Thunder Bay won and a five-pack of Bill Salonen Cup junior A triumphs.
In fact, he, along with the late Gary Cook, Bill McDonald and Gary Linquist Sr., were the only four individuals to be part of each of those Allan Cup victories.
Set to turn 65 in the coming months, Clarke currently resides at St. Joseph Care Group where he is provided for in assisted living.
While an outdoor get together, that was arranged by Cook’s daughters, Laura and Lesley, finally came to fruition last week after being held back due to COVID-19 restrictions, friends and many past local hockey players had a chance to stop by and say hello to Clarke, as well as reminisce with ex-teammates.
Having been a focal member of all thosechampionship teams over the past four-plus decades, there are many who are filled with fond recollections of Clarke.
None more so than McDonald, who was there during those Twins and CoHL title runs.
“I was fortunate to be around guys in that era like Clarkie & Cookie,” offered McDonald, who played on three of the Twins Allan Cup sides, including serving as captain for two, before going on to coach them to another pair of national crowns.
“They say surround yourself with good people when building a team and they were certainly two of the best.”
McDonald also added: Not only did Clarkie get us towels, ice, tape, etc., he was right there with us to share in victory celebrations. Also, when things didn’t go so well, he was there hanging his head in defeat with the rest of us. He was one of us.”
Ever-popular amongst the hometown faithful, you couldn’t help but beam when he would wrap-up ‘Score-O’ in the second intermission with a couple of attempts of his own towards the target that was finished off with his patented fist-pump followed by the roar of the crowd when he fired one into the back of the net.
“Having Clarkie around was definitely memorable, said Gerald Bolduc, who played defence with the Twins in the 1980s, winning multiple Allan Cups.
“From the time I was playing junior, right to the last game he worked, he was a fan favourite. He would put on a show for everyone.
Then Cookie would have him doing odd jobs at the rink to keep him busy and helping get everything ready for game nights.”
Recognized by Hockey Canada back in 2005 as a National Local Hockey Heroes Award recipient for his years of service to the game, Clarke was honoured at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
He also graciously donated his $10,000 prize to the Elks Minor Hockey Association.
As one who grew up around the Twins and worked with him as equipment manager in the Colonial League days, Gary Linquist Jr., is all too familiar with Clarke.
“The one thing that stands out about Darrell was his passion,” provided Linquist. “He lived to win and even being on the equipment staff he wanted to make sure he did the best of his ability, because he knew in some form what he was doing helped get the win that game or even that championship that season. He was just as important as anyone else in the organization.”
Echoing those sentiments was Bruce Ramsay, another vital cog to Thunder Bay’s success in the CoHL.
“Clarkie is an exceptional person, who loved hockey like no other,” detailed Ramsay, recently named the ECHL’s Coach and GM of the Year in 2020-21 for his efforts with the Wichita Thunder.
“No matter what the circumstances were, he always had a great attitude and a smile on his face. He always made coming to the rink fun and he loved pumping the boys up before each game, which I firmly believe helped us have so many successful seasons.”
Next week: Part II on Checking in on Clarkie.