Michael Gately
Archbishop Williams Class of 1966
Someone once asked Mike Gately how old he was when he started skating. Stuck for an answer, he replied “I don’t know – I’ve always skated. I don’t have any specific recollection of the first time I skated; it was just something I always did. My dad, Joe Gately, was a really good hockey player in his day and he would take me with him to the Tack Factory pond, Greenbush pond, or Musquashicut pond to play shinny hockey with whoever happened to be there.”
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“After we moved to Jackson Road in 1954, my friend Donald Mullen and I would skate on a small puddle of a pond off of Beaver Dam Road every day after school until dark. Donald’s older brother Jackie would often be there and I would try to copy everything he did. We often made a small bonfire to thaw out our frozen feet and warm our boots up before we’d put them on for the walk home. I usually carried my skates on my stick over my shoulder. Many was the dark night I got home too late for dinner and had to eat it cold.
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“In those days, Bruins games weren’t broadcast on TV like they are now. We listened to them on the radio. I had an old tube-style radio next to my bed with a big “eye” in the center of the dial. I would lie there listening to the game and fall asleep dreaming I was playing on the Uke Line with Bronco Horvath, Vic Stasiuk, and Johnny Bucyk! I remember my disappointment when the Bruins lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup finals in ’57 and ’58.
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“My dad had a second job tending bar at the Club Car in South Station in Boston and had a lot of connections. At one point he brought home individual black and white 8”x10” media photos of each member of the Bruins – some of them autographed. I proceeded to take thumbtacks and cover my bedroom wall with them. Needless to say, my mother wasn’t too happy, but my father just smiled. I can still see the captain, Fernie Flaman, looking down on me as I lay in bed.
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“It was about this time that the Scituate Youth Center, as I recall, created a rink in the West End with movable boards and a whole youth hockey program was born. I think Wes Hayes was the guy who made it happen. We had graduated from the puddle pond off Beaver Dam Road to a real rink. Then, around 1960-61 the Salt family put a roof on their rink in Weymouth and we were driving there every Saturday in the winter to play peewee and then bantam hockey. I remember traveling to some other strange rinks to play against some really good bantam teams from Needham, Dedham, and Walpole.
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“When it came time to go to high school, my parents decided I should follow in my sister Adrienne’s footsteps and go to Archbishop Williams in Braintree. This was 1962. Archie’s had a really good hockey program and when I got selected as a freshman to practice with the varsity team, I was over the moon! The next year, I started on defense and did so through my senior year when I co-captained the team with John Sanford, a great goalie and an even better guy. My biggest thrill was playing against my best friends from Scituate, led by Jimmy Grip, the SHS captain.
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”During my junior and senior years, I started thinking about schools like BC, BU, and Brown University for hockey. But my dad, in his infinite wisdom, knew I might have set my sights a little too high and wisely said, ‘It’s better to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond.’ So, when John Norris, the assistant coach at Norwich University approached me after our 5-4 loss to Melrose in the State Quarterfinals, and told me about their hockey program, I was sold. Little did I know that my dad had wanted me to go to Norwich ever since “his boys” - Skip Fryling, Donnie Grip, and Billy McKeever - had gone there seven or eight years before.
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“Once at Norwich, the Scituate hockey connection continued. Dave Hunt, SHS class of ’64, was my freshman teammate and once again we got to practice with the varsity. A big deal for a Rook as we were known. The next year, we both made varsity and were joined by my old friend and former SHS captain, Jimmy Grip. We had some great times during my last 3 years at Norwich and were runners-up in the ECAC Division II championships my senior year. A big part of that success was due to Jimmy Grip. He was an amazing competitor who never stopped striving to improve. He went on to become the first All-American Hockey player in Norwich hockey history the following year!!
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“During the summers in high school and college, we always played in at least one summer league and many times two or three. They ranged from the Grog Shop Clippers at the Cohasset Winter Gardens to leagues at the Skating Club of Boston and the old Lynn Arena. After 50+ years and perhaps too much Irish whiskey, the names of the teams we played have faded from my memory all except for Barney’s Bearcats. Barney was sixty-something years old and took a regular turn against us 18-20 year-olds. The teams consisted of some of the best high school and college players in Massachusetts at the time and it was not uncommon for college teammates to ‘go at it’ as opponents in some very spirited games! My dad raided the family savings to outfit us with some classy “Cadets” white jerseys and socks with blue and red trim and letters. It didn’t matter where we were or what we wore as long as we could play hockey.
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“After Norwich, I was stationed in West Germany as an Army Officer. I had the good fortune to play hockey for the Eis un Rollsport Club Amberg hockey team as the only foreign player. Under the rules of amateur sports in West Germany at that time, each team was only allowed to have one non-German on their roster. To be selected to play for this team was not only special, but also a lot of fun!
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“When I returned from Germany in 1974, I had a teaching fellowship at the University of Vermont. I played in some late night pick-up games for a while, but when my teaching load, studies, and work started piling up, something had to give. I had season tickets for several years and was fortunate to watch future greats Martin St. Louis and Tim Thomas when they played for the UVM Cats. After I started working full time, my priorities shifted and hockey fell off the plate for a while. Then, in 1984, Lou DiMasi (Norwich ‘76), the hockey coach at St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont asked if I would be interested in being his assistant in the school’s fledgling varsity program. I jumped at the chance and worked with Lou for the ‘84-‘85 and ’85-’86 seasons until a change in jobs made it impossible for me to continue.
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“My love of hockey has been a life-long affair and continues to this day as I watch the mad skills of today’s college and pro players. I’ve been fortunate to see my alma mater, Norwich University, win four Division III National Championships in the last eighteen years and be consistently ranked among the top ten teams in the country. More importantly, I’ve been blessed with memories and friendships that began on that puddle of a pond off of Beaver Dam Road and continue to this day. All because of Scituate Hockey!! What more could you ask for!! Thanks Dad!!”
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Mike and his wife, Ali, live in Hinesburg, Vermont and they have a daughter, Jennifer, who lives in California. Mike spent 40 years in the United States Army and National Guard and retired as the Assistant Adjutant General of the Vermont National Guard in 2008. He and Ali both volunteer their time and talents to several non-profits and, when they’re not doing that, love to travel.
Edited February 24, 2019