'It has had a good run': Cowichan Valley residents are ready to part with the world's largest hockey stick
It has been a huge part of the community for 35 years. Originally built for Expo 86, then brought over to the island where in now sits in Duncan.
“I love the stick,” said Mirek Volumith, a resident of Duncan. “That’s Duncan; that’s what it’s all about.”
It weighs 28 tonnes, as much a six and a half elephants.
“It’s pretty big,” said Kendra Capper, standing underneath the community landmark.
It is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the biggest hockey stick in the world, spanning more than 66 metres long and made out of Douglas fir.
“It has had a good run,” said Mike Wilson, Cowichan Valley Regional District director of Cobble Hill.
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
In April of last year, a pesky woodpecker decided to punch a whole through the business end of the hockey stick, bringing with it a lot of attention.
“That’s when they starting looking at it and saying hey, we have a little bit of a problem here that we need to look closer into,” said Wilson.
What was discovered is that portions of the massive stick are rotten. It’s estimated that a fix would cost $1.5 million to $2 million, therefore the Cowichan Valley Regional District began a lengthy public consultation process of what to do next.
“Three thousand people answered and 70 per cent of those who responded said, ‘It’s very nice but it would probably be best to let it go,’ and that’s what we’re looking at now,” said Wilson.
In the new year, the regional district will put the behemoth out to open tender and see if anyone is interested in taking it off its hands.
“There are companies out there to recycle this kind of thing, re-mill it and put it out for sale,” said Wilson. “It’s fir; it’s great.”
As for the question, will it be missed in the community?
“I think the giant hockey stick has been a nice thing to have for a lot of years, but I think it’s time for it to go,” said Riley McIntosh, a life-long resident of Duncan.
“It’s run its course, yes, and it has out lived its life,” said Jim Nugent of Duncan.
“That money could be spent somewhere else,” said Marianne Nicoll, another resident of Duncan.
Duncan’s time as champion was already in the late third period. A new hockey rink being built in Lockport, Illinois, is coming with a new, larger piece of lumber that would have edged Duncan’s stick by 12 metres.
The only question now is who will take the massive piece of hockey memorabilia and for what purpose.
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