Gerry James is certainly the most notorious coach in the annuals of the Yorkton Terriers Junior Hockey Club. He is also the most revered having been selected as the all-time coach in 2000 by fans, and Saturday he was inducted into the league's Hall of Fame, along with three others; Darrell Spelay, GeneKrepakevichand Terry Struthers.
James said he learned of the honour about to be bestowed upon him when in the city earlier this fall in support of his biography Kid Dynamite written by friend Ron Smith.
"I didn't even know there was an SJHL Hall of Fame," he said.
James said Saturday's induction is one he appreciates, even though he has previously been inducted into a half dozen other halls, including the Yorkton Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
"A lot of the other Hall of Fames I wasn't able to get to the induction ceremonies," he said, noting other commitments got in the way. "This is one of the few I've had the experience of attending."
In introducing James Saturday, Randy Atkinson termed James a Canadian sports icon.
"He is one of the best athletes this country has ever produced -- period," he said.
That is a hard statement to argue given James played in the Canadian Football League for 11 seasons winning four Grey Cups, the Schenley Award for Top Canadian twice, and being inducted in the League's Hall of Fame in 1981. James also played hockey, winning a Memorial Cup as a Junior, and toiling with the National Hockey League's Toronto Maple Leafs for six years, his hockey career overlapping his football one.
One year he played in both the Grey Cup and the Stanley Cup finals. In terms of the Terriers, James involvement goes back to the old Senior team which he both coached and played with from 1964 to 1977. James would then own, manage, and coach the Junior Terriers from 1979 to 1984, winning the club's first league title. At the podium Saturday James shared his honour by thanking those that were part of his Terrier teams along the way. "I want to recognize all the players and families for allowing me to be part of their lives," he said, adding that billets and fans are also an integral part of a team.
"Often we don't get to thank people who help us achieve our goals," said James.
James said that was another plus with his SJHL induction. He said having gone through the writing of his biography, and the subsequent book tour has allowed him fresh insights to himself.
"I wasn't very comfortable getting outside myself," he said.
In terms of his time as the Junior Terrier boss, James said the league championship in 1983 was an obvious highlight.
"That was my goal since I started coaching in '79," he said.
At that time the Prince Albert Raiders were a perennial league powerhouse, and James set the goal of matching that team.
"Let's be as good as they are. That was who we wanted to emulate," he said.
The Raiders had moved up to the Western Hockey League by the time the Terriers won their first crown, but James said he feels they had finally matched Prince Albert in terms of a team, to the point he believes Yorkton would have won in '83 even had the Raiders still been in the league.
"I think we would have. We had a lot of firepower. Ourdefence was solid and we had good goaltending," he said.
