By Peter Watts /

Sixty years is a long time to be involved in anything — marriage, work, volunteering, hobbies.

And yet, when it comes to hockey, it seems like the time flies by. It is part of the passion that so many of us have for the game in this country.

For some, hockey has been a conduit to 
a career.

For others, it has provided an education that has led, in turn, to a good job.

For a great many, hockey has given something that many people feel obligated to pass along to the next generation.

One of those people is Greg Lacomy, a member of the 2009 class of inductees into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.

A Winnipeg-native, he grew up through the minor hockey system and played for the Winnipeg Monarchs of the Manitoba Junior League before heading to Denver on a college scholarship.

He played for four seasons, winning an NCAA title in 1961 and getting to the final again in 1962.

After a year with Rochester Minnesota in the US Hockey League, he decided that an opportunity with the Manitoba government was a little more stable of a job than playing pro hockey.

He spent 31 years in government service, the last eight years as deputy minister of agriculture, before retiring in 1996.

Through it all, he found time to contribute to hockey. He’s coached three different midget teams at the national championship. His Winnipeg bantam Hawks won the Western Canada championship in 1990.

And he has coached a number of players who have gone on to achieve success in their own right.

Brad Chartrand was on that Western Canada bantam championship team and went on to play in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings.

Karl Friesen played for Lacomy with the Kildonan Juniors, who Lacomy coached in the late 1970s. Friesen went on to play goal for the German national team.

Also on the list of Kildonan alumni, a guy named Chris Walby, who afterward found himself better suited to football.

And today, he finds himself in charge of the coach mentoring program for Winnipeg Minor Hockey.

“We help select the coaches for the AAA teams and run four coaching clinics a year,” Lacomy said. “Our focus is on the skill development of the players. To accomplish that, we need to be able to help coaches be better.”

Former Hockey Canada president Frank McKinnon chairs the Hall of Fame selection committee.

“Greg coached the Manitoba U-17 program three times,” said McKinnon. “He coached the 1995 Manitoba women’s team at the Canada Summer Games. And he coached at the University of Manitoba for 12 years.

“There aren’t many who have that broad of a resume. And it’s great to see he still has a passion for the game and that he is still giving back to the game in an important way.”