After my piece on the late Charlie Gardner on October 7, there were murmurs among some of the ice hockey fraternity in the city as to when the Dundee Rockets team actually started up.
Most believe Rockets came into being for the first time in the 1960s and that previous teams were known as Tigers.
However, this column had already revealed in previous times that Dundee Rockets first took to the ice in this city in the 1940s.
Dundee’s greatest-ever ice hockey player Marshall Key was my source at that time and he again confirmed this just the other week when he spoke to Charlie’s son Grant.
“Marshall is very clear that Dundee Rockets started in September 1947,” said Grant.
“That would tie in to what my father had said to me, as he always maintained he played ice hockey for Rockets and was part of the founding team.
“He never mentioned Tigers.
“Marshall said to me that a number of Canadians arrived in Scotland in 1946 to set up an ice hockey league.
“Each team consisted of 11 Canadians and one spot for a local player.
“At Dundee ice rink, that team would have been called the Tigers the senior team.
“There were a number of local Dundee players who were keen to get involved and they got one of the Canadians on board to coach them.
“They were originally going to call their team The Buffalos but the Canadian agreed to do it for free on the basis that they called their team Rockets after the team the Canadian coach (Laurie Merchant, I believe) used to play for.
“It was agreed and the Dundee Rockets were formed the junior team or feeder team to the Tigers.
“They collapsed in 1955 and were reformed in 1969.”
Some other details about Charlie’s life has emerged.
He was born in March 1925, the second eldest of four brothers.
Charlie attended Glebelands Primary School and then Stobswell Secondary.
He left school at 14 to be a message boy with Wood & Cairns, the electrical wholesalers and, in 1940, joined The Sunderland Forge and Engineering Company Electrical Engineers (based in the Dundee Shipyard).
A number of family members also worked in the shipyard.
Our previous artictle highlighted his football career and, after he hung up his boots, he joined Tay Textiles in Dundee in 1955 where he stayed until January 1970, when he joined Polytape until 1975.
That year, he joined Ninewells Hospital as an electrical technician, and he spent 15 most enjoyable years there until he retired in 1990 at the age of 65.
He then was invited to go part-time at General Accident in Perth to help out one of his colleagues from Ninewells had left to head up the electrical side and asked Charlie to join him.
In his retirement, he enjoyed playing golf at Camperdown and was also a member of Dudhope Bowling Club.
He also played bowls at both the High Kirk and on the occasional evening at Balgay Church, where he was a member.
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