Andy was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on October 3, 1929. After playing Junior Hockey in his hometown, he made his professional debut in 1949 with the Cincinnati Mohawks of the American Hockey League. The next season, he came to Victoria to play for the Cougars and was part of the “kid line” with Reg Abbott and Bob Frampton. Andy was a key contributor to the team’s success, scoring spectacular goals and helping the Cougars bring home a League Championship. He continued to live in Victoria and in the off-season got married and worked for a cement contractor to keep in shape.

Andy played four more seasons with the Cougars and in 1955-56, signed with the New York Rangers. He played eight seasons with the Rangers and was then claimed by the Boston Bruins on the waiver wire. Following his time with Boston. Andy returned to the west coast in 1964-65 and played for the Portland Buckaroos of the Western Hockey League. Victoria was the next stop on his hockey journey, where he played on the team’s top line with Milan Marcetta and Bob Barlow. Together they formed one of the most potent scoring lines in the league and accumulated a total of 101 goals and 138 assists for a total of 239 points. Their efforts led the team to its only championship by defeating the first-place Portland Buckaroos in a classic seven-game series that could have gone either way. After the 1966-67 season, the Leafs were sold, and Andy returned to Portland where he played for eight more seasons. He ended his professional career with the Seattle Totems of the Central Hockey League and two years for a semi-pro team in Portland.

In addition to his scoring ability, Andy was known for his gentlemanly play and durability. He won the NHL’s Lady Byng Player Award and was the runner-up on another occasion. In the WHL, he won the Fred J. Hume Cup for the most gentlemanly player a total of six times. In his 26 seasons of professional hockey, Andy played in 1931 games, one of the highest totals ever, scoring 695 goals and 820 assists, for a total of 1515 points; 525 of those games were played with Victoria for the Cougars and Maple Leafs. His streak of consecutive games was remarkable. Although the NHL does not include records from other leagues or playoff games in its statistics, Andy played an estimated 1,563 consecutive games. On November 30, 1966, he was honoured during a game in Victoria which he attended with his family.

Andy won two Championships with Victoria: one with the Cougars in 1951-52 and the second with the Maple Leafs in 1965-66. Andy was truly a unique player. His career and longevity in the game may never be seen again due to the gruelling schedule and more physical game that is played today.

Matt Pettinger

Matt Pettinger

Matt Pettinger

Born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1980, Matt moved to Victoria at age two with his family. As a youngster, he was active and interested in all sports, but gravitated to ice hockey when he was around seven years of age. Matt played seven years of hockey at the Victoria Racquet Club and won back-to-back Pee Wee Provincial Championships as a 12- and 13-year-old.
 
At 16 years of age, Matt played Junior A hockey in his hometown for the Victoria Salsa where he went on to earn a full athletic hockey scholarship to the University of Denver after graduating high school from Mount Douglas in 1998. The University of Denver’s hockey team won the WCHA Championship in Matt’s freshman season. In his sophomore year at Denver, Matt was chosen to represent Team Canada at the 2000 World Junior Hockey Championships in Sweden, where the team won the Bronze medal. After playing in the World Juniors that year, Matt decided to leave university and play for the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL for the remaining four months of the season which was his NHL draft year.
 
2000 was a good year for Matt. In addition to his World Juniors medal, he was selected in the 2nd round, 43rd overall, to the Washington Capitals where he would play over 330 games for that team. He scored over 52 goals and assisted on 47 others during his stint in DC, including scoring 20 goals in the 2005-2006 season. There he was teammates with the likes of Alexander Ovechkin, Jaromir Jagr and Ollie Kolzig.
 
Matt was again chosen to play for Team Canada at the 2005 World Championships held in Riga, Latvia, where the team finished in 4th place. In the 2007-2008 season, Matt was traded to his home province Vancouver Canucks where he would play parts of two seasons. He played the 2008-2009 NHL season in Tampa, Florida with the Lightning before playing his final NHL season with the Vancouver Canucks organization in 2009-2010.
 
Matt and his family then took his playing career overseas, playing five years in the German Elite League. His first two years were spent playing in Cologne, Germany where his daughter Abby was born. He finished off his playing career in Hamburg, Germany for a final three years of professional hockey.
 
Overall, during his professional hockey career, Matt played in over 850 professional games spanning 15 seasons. With his wife, Chelsea, and children Abby and Luke, Matt returned to Victoria and now works as a realtor at Avison Young with his well-known realtor father, Rick.

saveonABOUT THE GREATER VICTORIA
SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Victoria enjoys a stellar sports history and we celebrate the many athletes, teams and builders who have contributed to that history.  Our displays are seen at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre (1925 Blanshard St.)  through Gate Three.

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