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Walk through the door of BK Sports Repair and an old goalie mask stares you down from its perch on the wall.
The proprietor of BK Sports, Bob Kelly, often jokes to his right-hand man, Mathieu Groulx, about the mask: “Jacques Plante gave me that – and if someone wants it, it will cost them $1 million.”
The true story of the mask is compelling enough. Kelly, a goaltender in his 20s at the time, bought it in the 1960s after his first mask shattered upon greeting a fired puck.
Bits of Kelly’s memorabilia – a team picture from his minor hockey days in Ville Emard (Mario Lemieux country!), and another of him tending goal for Loyola College (now Concordia), hang under the mask. Kelly was at Loyola for one year.
“I didn’t do too much studying, so I couldn’t continue,” says Kelly.
In the long run, that didn’t matter much. Now, at 75, Kelly is a bit of legend in Ottawa sports circles. He’s the go-to guy for sports repairs for active families in the region, having made a name for himself over the past two decades.
Kelly’s hockey artifacts blend with the myriad Montreal Canadiens photos that colour BK’s shop on Belfast Road, a few stones throws away from his old digs on Bantree Street. (His first repair store was also nearby, on Lancaster Road, opened some 20 years ago.)
At Bantree, the smell of cigarette smoke would guide a visitor up the wooden stairs to the second floor where the magic happened. Change of venue aside, not much is different at BK Sports, the place where broken-down gear — skates, goalie pads, baseball gloves, even footballs — get reborn. Three German-built Pfaff sewing machines dominate the centre of the shop – Kelly bought the first one, used, for a couple hundred dollars when he got into the sports repair business back in Montreal.
Bob Kelly’s company is called B.K. Sports Repair and every sports parent in the city knows his is the place to take broken gear to get fixed.
Like most great decisions in life, this one was made over a cold beer. Seems Kelly’s pal, Eddie Hyduk, was lamenting how busy he was in his shoe repair business. He couldn’t keep up with the old shoes needing soles, not to mention the sports gear that was trickling in.
Kelly offered to help. First, he had to learn how repair gear, how to sew.
The biggest challenge? Re-palming hockey gloves.
“The first time, it took me two days to fix one glove,” Kelly says.
Now, Kelly or Groulx can do them quickly, using pre-cut palms. Rip out the old, stitch on the new and Bob’s your uncle.
As for Eddie, he died in the saddle. Sitting on the players bench after a shift in an old-timers game about 15 years ago, Eddie said, “I don’t feel too good.” They were his last words. He died after a heart attack.
By then Kelly had outlived the string of jobs that would lead him to his handyman destiny. After leaving the Montreal area for Ottawa in the early 1980s, he worked for the old Ottawa Sunday Herald in ad sales, then the Laurentian Trading Post and Lacroix Sports. It was while with Lacroix that he started doing so many equipment repairs out of his basement he decided to branch out on his own.
There’s never been a fuss about his trade, or the man himself. Both keep going about their business, although at his age, Kelly admits he might have lost a little zip off his fastball. When he first set up shop, he took out a few ads, sponsored some local teams, but then, as now, his customers mainly arrive from word of mouth. Often, the words are spoken by local sport retailers who don’t have the parts, the skill or the time to fix equipment. “Try BK,” they say.
Those who have frequented BK’s over the years include Marc Methot’s dad, Al, who ran the ice pads at nearby Minto Arena for years. Fellow Senators defenceman Cody Ceci was a customer. And Ron Tugnutt, the former Sens goalie.
“My business hasn’t increased at all, it’s just good and steady,” Kelly says. If the work piles up, as often happens in late August as hockey families panic before tryouts, Kelly will call in a part-timer to help Groulx.
Skate blades are a common problem. Holders crack, blades crack, or get ground down. During a recent visit, Groulx, an 18-year shop veteran, was artfully repairing a worn binding at the bottom of a goalie pad, a typical affliction. Goalies have been known to seek certain “modifications,” to gear, such as bigger and wider upper body pads – for protection but also added girth to cheat enemy shooters.
Americans from New Jersey or Florida will ship footballs to BK to get new bladders put in. There’s no end to the types of repairs to be done, and as the gear evolves, like car models, the repairs have to adapt.
“I never stop learning,” Groulx says. “The new equipment is a bit different, you have to take it apart and put it back together again.”
Recently a regular customer was delighted to have some hockey glove fingers threaded, free of charge, in a matter of seconds. There’s an old school charm to this operation.
“My philosophy over the years has always been,” Kelly says, “do quality work, at a reasonable price and get it out on time. You’re helping people. New equipment costs so much and you save people money if you can repair it.”
wscanlan@postmedia.com
查看原文...
The proprietor of BK Sports, Bob Kelly, often jokes to his right-hand man, Mathieu Groulx, about the mask: “Jacques Plante gave me that – and if someone wants it, it will cost them $1 million.”
The true story of the mask is compelling enough. Kelly, a goaltender in his 20s at the time, bought it in the 1960s after his first mask shattered upon greeting a fired puck.
Bits of Kelly’s memorabilia – a team picture from his minor hockey days in Ville Emard (Mario Lemieux country!), and another of him tending goal for Loyola College (now Concordia), hang under the mask. Kelly was at Loyola for one year.
“I didn’t do too much studying, so I couldn’t continue,” says Kelly.
In the long run, that didn’t matter much. Now, at 75, Kelly is a bit of legend in Ottawa sports circles. He’s the go-to guy for sports repairs for active families in the region, having made a name for himself over the past two decades.
Kelly’s hockey artifacts blend with the myriad Montreal Canadiens photos that colour BK’s shop on Belfast Road, a few stones throws away from his old digs on Bantree Street. (His first repair store was also nearby, on Lancaster Road, opened some 20 years ago.)
At Bantree, the smell of cigarette smoke would guide a visitor up the wooden stairs to the second floor where the magic happened. Change of venue aside, not much is different at BK Sports, the place where broken-down gear — skates, goalie pads, baseball gloves, even footballs — get reborn. Three German-built Pfaff sewing machines dominate the centre of the shop – Kelly bought the first one, used, for a couple hundred dollars when he got into the sports repair business back in Montreal.
Bob Kelly’s company is called B.K. Sports Repair and every sports parent in the city knows his is the place to take broken gear to get fixed.
Like most great decisions in life, this one was made over a cold beer. Seems Kelly’s pal, Eddie Hyduk, was lamenting how busy he was in his shoe repair business. He couldn’t keep up with the old shoes needing soles, not to mention the sports gear that was trickling in.
Kelly offered to help. First, he had to learn how repair gear, how to sew.
The biggest challenge? Re-palming hockey gloves.
“The first time, it took me two days to fix one glove,” Kelly says.
Now, Kelly or Groulx can do them quickly, using pre-cut palms. Rip out the old, stitch on the new and Bob’s your uncle.
As for Eddie, he died in the saddle. Sitting on the players bench after a shift in an old-timers game about 15 years ago, Eddie said, “I don’t feel too good.” They were his last words. He died after a heart attack.
By then Kelly had outlived the string of jobs that would lead him to his handyman destiny. After leaving the Montreal area for Ottawa in the early 1980s, he worked for the old Ottawa Sunday Herald in ad sales, then the Laurentian Trading Post and Lacroix Sports. It was while with Lacroix that he started doing so many equipment repairs out of his basement he decided to branch out on his own.
There’s never been a fuss about his trade, or the man himself. Both keep going about their business, although at his age, Kelly admits he might have lost a little zip off his fastball. When he first set up shop, he took out a few ads, sponsored some local teams, but then, as now, his customers mainly arrive from word of mouth. Often, the words are spoken by local sport retailers who don’t have the parts, the skill or the time to fix equipment. “Try BK,” they say.
Those who have frequented BK’s over the years include Marc Methot’s dad, Al, who ran the ice pads at nearby Minto Arena for years. Fellow Senators defenceman Cody Ceci was a customer. And Ron Tugnutt, the former Sens goalie.
“My business hasn’t increased at all, it’s just good and steady,” Kelly says. If the work piles up, as often happens in late August as hockey families panic before tryouts, Kelly will call in a part-timer to help Groulx.
Skate blades are a common problem. Holders crack, blades crack, or get ground down. During a recent visit, Groulx, an 18-year shop veteran, was artfully repairing a worn binding at the bottom of a goalie pad, a typical affliction. Goalies have been known to seek certain “modifications,” to gear, such as bigger and wider upper body pads – for protection but also added girth to cheat enemy shooters.
Americans from New Jersey or Florida will ship footballs to BK to get new bladders put in. There’s no end to the types of repairs to be done, and as the gear evolves, like car models, the repairs have to adapt.
“I never stop learning,” Groulx says. “The new equipment is a bit different, you have to take it apart and put it back together again.”
Recently a regular customer was delighted to have some hockey glove fingers threaded, free of charge, in a matter of seconds. There’s an old school charm to this operation.
“My philosophy over the years has always been,” Kelly says, “do quality work, at a reasonable price and get it out on time. You’re helping people. New equipment costs so much and you save people money if you can repair it.”
wscanlan@postmedia.com
查看原文...
