The Sarnia Sting will honour the Allan Cup champion Petrolia Squires prior to Saturday night’s game against the London Knights at the RBC Centre.
 

It hardly seems it was 30 years ago, 1979, when Squires captain Barry Edgar hoisted the Allan Cup over his head to the delight of a delirious sold-out crowd at the Sarnia Arena as Petrolia became the smallest community ever to win a Canadian senior hockey championship.
 

Two years later the Squires repeated the feat in Thunder Bay.
 

Bill Abercrombie, now vice-president of operations for the Sting, was a member of the two teams.   “The support of the community is what stands out for me,” said Abercrombie this week. “The entire County was behind us. You have to remember back then this was the first time a team from around here was playing for a Canadian title. The majority of the time hockey teams only played for Ontario title.

“I remember, I think it was Channel 13 coming in to do a couple of games in the finals at the Sarnia Arena against Steinbach, Manitoba. That was unheard of at the time to televise a senior hockey game.”
 

Abercrombie continued. “I remember going to work the next morning after flying back from Thunder Bay where we had just won game five. It was 7 a.m. and there was already a lineup around the block back to SCITS for tickets. All the phone calls I used to get for tickets were amazing. Coming back from St. John’s, Newfoundland after winning the Eastern Canadian title and landing at Sarnia Airport. There were so many people you couldn’t move. Those are memories the players will never forget and we still talk about when we see one another.”

Ron Carroll, who later became general manager of the Sting, coached the 1979 team while Steve DeGurse was behind the bench in 1981.
 

Abercrombie said he remembers how those teams were aptly named the lunch-bucket crew of senior hockey.

“We were a close-knit group and every guy played for each other. Other teams always picked up ex-pros and were paying guys, but we were just a bunch of local hockey players with a common goal. We had a lot of depth and got great goaltending out of guys like Larry Lucas and Bruce Aberhart to win the first title and then added Dave Tataryn for the second one when Larry got hurt.”
 

He added, “We were a determined group. Most of the other teams had more talent than us, but they didn’t compete like we did. Nobody missed practices or games. We wanted to be there.”
 

Abercrombie, who is from Lindsay, remembers how he got to Sarnia.
 

“I had a scholarship to Boston College, but was ruled ineligible after the first year because I had taken room and board money the year before in Collingwood. When I returned to Collingwood I met Jim Willis who asked me if I wanted to come to Lambton County and play for the Squires. The rest is history. It’s hard to believe that was 30 years ago.”

Some of the players coming to the RBC Centre Saturday include Abercrombie, Bruce Aberhart, Bill Brown, Dan Duncan, Bill Fairbairn, Bobby Gardiner, John Held, Al Houston, Doug Simpson, Darryl Ulrich, Jim Willis, Dave Wilson Dan Wilson, Roger Archer, Brian Edgar, Barry Edgar, Ron Wilson, Dale Wilson, Gary Wilson and Doug Zonneville.

General manager Ira Downer will be there as well as trainer Ron Goodacre and support staff Jim Duffy, Clair Ross, Sippie Scholtens, Dave Osbourne, and Mait Edgar.
 

Game time is 7:35 p.m.