Please note this story has been modified since first posted.
In honour of the 125th year of the Salmonbellies, The Record caught up with a few of the lacrosse stars of the past to find out what the highlight of their career was, what they have been up to since and what being a member of the Salmonbellies meant to them. What follows is an abridged version of those conversations.
Paul Parnell
Played with the Salmonbellies 1961 – ’75.
Parnell was captain, won five Mann Cups and to this day remains the team’s all-time points leader and one of the 10 all-time Canadian point getters. (note: The Salmonbellies' Wayne Goss has the most league, playoff and Mann Cup-total-lifetime points, Parnell's total is national.)
Q: What was the highlight of your Salmonbellies career?
A: I would have to say winning two Mike Kelly medals (Mann Cup most valuable player awards). That was in 1970 and 1972. It is an award for the best player in a series. I don’t know why, it just stands out. It was just great.
Q: What did you do after you finished playing lacrosse?
A: I was a Salmonbellies commissioner for many years, I am a Salmonbellies alumni and I am chairman of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and was the treasurer. I was fire chief for New Westminster for many years too.
Q: What do/did the Salmonbellies mean to you?
A: It has been great playing for the Salmonbellies and being a member of the Salmonbellies. It is kind of a brotherhood. We all partied together, we went out together and it was a real good team.
Ralph Burton
Played for the Salmonbellies from 1937 to 1947.
He played forward and was known for scoring goals.
Q: What was the highlight of your Salmonbellies career?
A: [After a hardy laugh at the question.] One night, I think I scored eight goals and one assist against the North Shore Indians. That immediately comes to mind. I was just a young one, about 17 years old. It was the first year I got on as a Salmonbellie, 1938. The previous year I had just been a spare.
Q: What do/did the Salmonbellies mean to you?
A: The people of New Westminster, they followed the Salmonbellies right through from the 1800s. That was a big thing for me to be able to go and play for the Salmonbellies. I even had a spare tire cover on my car with a big Salmonbellies crest on it. I was quite proud of the fact that I was a Salmonbellie, believe me.
Q: What did you do after you finished playing lacrosse?
A: I went to dental school from 1946 and graduated in 1950. I practised a couple of years in New Westminster and then in Vancouver for many years. Now, I am just up to growing older gracefully.
Eric Cowieson
Played with the Salmonbellies from 1978 to 1995
He was captain of the team for 14 years and accumulated 1,045 points in 635 games.
Cowieson also holds Mann Cup records for most games played (62) and most series played (11).
Q: What was the highlight of your Salmonbellies career?
A: The biggest highlights are probably when we won the Mann Cups. I was able to win four in my time. I think the one in 1986 was the most gratifying because we won it back in Ontario and after losing here the year before in seven games, so it was kind of redemption to go back and win against the same team that beat us here, in 1985. No one has won it back east since we won it in 1986, so it shows how tough it is to win back there.
Q: What do/did the Salmonbellies mean to you?
A: I grew up in Burnaby and you always knew who the Salmonbellies were, but when I got there that is when I met Wayne Goss (considered one of the best lacrosse players in the game) and that changed my perspective of the whole organization, and it just grew and grew and became part of our whole family. All the kids in New West seem to grow up and play lacrosse.I don’t know if there is a whole lot of hockey players that come out of New West, but there are certainly lots of lacrosse players. They are the Montreal Canadiens of lacrosse.
Q: What did you do after you finished playing lacrosse?
I took a couple of years off and then I helped coached the senior Salmonbellies team for a few years. My kids played lacrosse so I coached my son and daughter coming up. I also got to be assistant coach with the Vancouver Ravens for a few years. (The Ravens were a National Lacrosse League team from 2002 to 2004.) I worked for the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch for 35 years. Now I am retired and enjoying it.
