Months after being named to the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, Harvey Bolton is now honoured in the rink where his journey through the sport began - the Whitney Forum.
Bolton was honoured in a ceremony Dec. 17 at the arena, where his new plaque from the provincial hall of fame was installed inside the local sports hall of fame exhibit in the Forum’s lobby. Bolton even did the job himself, sneaking in behind the shelves to mount the plaque alongside other Flin Flon hockey legends like Bobby Clarke, while his family, friends and several of his collegiates looked on. Bolton’s photo in the hall of fame is not far away from one of his father Len, a long-time official himself.
Bolton’s journey through hockey began more than five decades ago, with him following in his father’s footsteps to become a hockey official. In a short acceptance speech, Bolton said he reffed his first game in the former “Tom Thumb rink” - the minor hockey and figure skating rink that used to be in the basement of the Forum, located a short jaunt from where his plaque now hangs.
“I’m 20 feet from going down those stairs to where the old figure skating rink was, where I reffed my first-ever hockey game. I’m 10 feet from my dad’s picture over there,” said Bolton, choking back a couple of tears as he gestured to an image of his dad.
“It’s really great. To share this with all of you, with my family, this means so much.”
Bolton’s work as an official has taken him through on-ice and off-ice roles, from working with the most experienced officials to the greenest of rookies. Bolton refereed junior hockey and international tournaments, working as an officiating supervisor for the World U17 Hockey Challenge in 2002. He served as the referee-in-chief both in Thompson in the 1970s and for many years in Flin Flon, along with serving as the referee-in-chief for Hockey Manitoba and the Norman Regional Minor Hockey Association, which he has done since the 1980s. While Bolton now longer wears the stripes on the ice, he still works as an off-ice official, evaluator and trainer, running youth clinics and helping the next crop of referees.
Over his time on the ice, Bolton met many of the people who helped shape Flin Flon hockey - even calling penalties on a few.
“It’s incredible. It really is,” he said.
“The other guys on that wall, Pinkie Davie, Hec McCaig and them, Bobby Kirk - those are the guys who I was first introduced to by my dad and my family when I came up.”
Bolton has received recognition for his work in recent years, receiving a lifetime achievement award in 2022 from the Flin Flon Minor Hockey Association, which named a new award for the association’s best official in his honour. He received the Frank McKinnon Outstanding Volunteer Award from Hockey Manitoba in 2023.
Bolton was officially named to the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame last year, being formally inducted in a ceremony last fall - the first and only Flin Flon official to receive the honour. While he is proud to be in such elite company at the hall in Winnipeg, being honoured in the rink where it all begin is something different for Bolton.
“I can’t say enough about it. As important as it is to be in the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, to have my plaque there… it’s cool and I appreciate it, but here, it means so much. You know the history of this place. We’ve been a part of it together for a long time. It means something. This rink means a lot to people who come in here, from whichever community, wherever they’re from. I’m truly honoured,” he said.
