During a ceremony earlier this week (March 28) at the 2024 Coy Cup tournament hosted by Powell River Regals, the club honoured two late members of the organization whose contributions were felt for decades. Narratives were provided by the sister of Cliff Milne and daughter of Dennis Dyer for the ceremony, which were also shared with the Peak.
Milne served the team in almost every capacity, including player, coach, manager, board member and historian. He was heavily involved in planning for hosting previous Coy Cup, Savage Cup (provincial AAA trophy) and Allan Cup (national AAA trophy) tournaments held at Powell River Recreation Complex. The narrative below was written by Milne's sister, Joyce Carlson.
Cliff Milne’s two greatest passions in life were family and hockey.
He was four years old when Willingdon Arena was built, and his dad took him and his sister to watch those initial hockey games in the three-team league that was the genesis of Powell River Regals.
It was the start of a lifelong love for the sport that included playing, coaching teams and goalies, refereeing and being a fan.
He loved watching the Vancouver Canucks, sitting close to and holding hands with his wife Jenny.
When he was old enough to join hockey, he played between the pipes through all the divisions up to juvenile. A highlight was when he played in a North Shore tournament and his efforts stopping 106 shots in a losing cause made it onto a provincial television station sports report.
He moved to the Lower Mainland to play junior hockey and later finished his playing days as the goalie for Westview Hotel Bruins in the local commercial league.
Cliff suited up for the Regals as a back-up goaltender and the time, in retaliation for an uncalled offense against him, he skated out of his net to break his stick over the back of an opponent, is talked about to this day.
He later moved on to fill various positions at the executive level. He was a master statistician and keeper of memorabilia that chronicled the team’s seasons from league play, BC championship Coy Cups through to national Hardy and Allan Cup championships.
He was awarded a Regals’ lifetime membership that reflected the countless hours he spent working tirelessly behind the scenes in his basement organizing 50/50 draws and programs. He was honoured to be part of the Regal teams that were inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame and Powell River Sports Hall of Fame.
Cliff was the familiar face seen at many games with the family card table at the entrance to Hap Parker Arena, his two girls, Kelley and Cheryl, at his side and later his grandchildren.
He travelled with Regal teams throughout BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and east to Nova Scotia. Internationally he accompanied his beloved Regals to Alaska, Belarus and Japan.
In his final years, he loved to attend Regal games, sharing greetings with other team fans. Although he didn’t speak much at that point, he did say, “those guys out there just love to play, and I love to watch them.”
Cliff Milne truly was Green and Gold. Heart and Soul.
A narrative written by Dyer's daughter, Jenni, was published on March 29. The 2024 Coy Cup championship game between the Regals and Terrace River Kings takes place Saturday, March 30, at Hap Parker Arena. Game time is 7:30 pm.
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