Elks captain Robertson takes career into OT

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/02/2025 (275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ashley Robertson has an indisputable love for hockey.

As the oldest current player in the Tiger Hills Hockey League, his love of the game might have come from nature, but also could’ve been nurtured. In reality, it was likely both.

Whatever the source, it’s very apparent.

It’s hard to think about the final regular season home game of the senior hockey calendar when the alarm goes off just after 6 a.m., but it’s also not far from his mind either.

Puck drop isn’t for another 14 hours, and between now and then, the kids need breakfast and to get out the door to school, seven-month-old daschund Bruce needs to go outside to take care of business and Robertson needs to get himself to work.

But just like when he started, the game is never far from top-of-mind.

Albeit, these days a game day is usually just a half day of work.

After nearly 25 years with the Souris Elks, now in the Tiger Hills Hockey League, an afternoon nap is mandatory, and a little more time is required to get the body activated.

The 45-year-old spends his days as a senior research analyst with AgQuest near Minto, but admits on game days he leaves around lunchtime.

As the most senior, senior hockey player in Westman, it comes with the territory.

“It’s still a very competitive league. There are guys that played a lot of junior, some guys that played semi-pro, I’ve even played against former NHL players,” said Robertson.

“But I don’t actually want the guys I’m playing against to know how old I actually am, otherwise I’m gonna hear about it on the ice.”

A typical workday during the season is spent in AgQuest’s fabrication shop, working on the seed drills that keep him busy in research plots all across western Manitoba all summer.

But in winter, just like he has every winter for longer than he can remember, he’s already thinking about that night’s game.

This night marks the final regular season home game for the Souris Elks, and it’s against the Boissevain Border Kings.

There’s been always been a bit of a rivalry, but the Elks have weathered on-ice struggles the past few seasons and haven’t had the sparkling records and deep playoff runs from when Robertson started.

But that certainly doesn’t dampen his spirits, as the rink has always been a haven to work on his favourite craft.

He’ll show up for this one like he always has: ready to play with a smile on his face.

• • •

The rink has always been one of his favourite places.

Robertson started just a mile down the road from where he currently works, and can’t even remember the first time he was on skates.

It was almost second nature, learning to skate the same time he learned to walk.

He currently lives in Brandon with wife Ronnallee and young daughters Reese, 12, and Hadlee, 9, but where he works, the farm he grew up on, and the Minto rink make a triangle all about a mile apart.

The early morning sessions, the formal hours-long sessions emphasizing figure skating, or just wheeling around working on edges while pretending to be his favourite NHLers were at the encouragement of late father Jim, but came both naturally and easily to Robertson.

It was never a chore to lace up the skates and spend hours on the ice.

He would spend countless hours in the type of barn that if it’s -40 outside, it’s -40 inside.

“Growing up in Minto, we have the old barn with real ice, so you always had to rely on winter being cold,” said Robertson.

“But as soon as the ice was in there was figure skating, power skating, that was Tuesdays and Thursdays, and after that was public skating.”

And Robertson took part in all three, emphasizing he was in figure skating until the age of 12, already well into his true passion with Boissevain Minor Hockey.

His dad also served as caretaker at the rink, meaning he had a set of keys and was often the first one on site to open the rink for the day.

More often than not, the youngest Robertson would go with him.

“I always loved the fresh ice. I would spend as much time as I could on the ice, it wasn’t even hockey, I just loved to skate,” Robertson said.

“I remember one night being on the ice so long, and it was one of those super cold nights, and I took my skates off and I had a huge, white, frostbite blister on my foot. Mom and dad looked it up in an old home remedy book, we put a sock on my foot, went to bed that night and woke up the next morning and it was gone.”

Family influence, not unlike many in Minto or other comparable small towns, meant you basically live at the rink in winter.

“My oldest brother Bill, most around here know him as Whipper, he’s 10 years older than me and he always played, so I grew up watching him. My dad was into hockey, but it was funny because as a kid he didn’t get to play. He was always told there’s more important things to be doing on the farm, so he didn’t start playing until he was 16.”

Robertson thankfully had the opposite experience, as his parents gave him every opportunity to skate, which came more often than not.

He attended Minto School until Grade 8, and with the rink right across the street, gym class was often in the rink too.

Broomball, skating, curling, and even just running on the ice in boots or sneakers were his favourite physical education classes.

Robertson continued to rise through Boissevain Minor Hockey before spending two seasons with the AAA Southwest Cougars.

That led to four years of Junior A, spending his rookie season as a 16-year-old in Dauphin.

The start of his second year he was traded to Winkler, where the Flyers won a Manitoba Junior Hockey League league title and nearly beat Weybrun to advance to the Royal Bank Cup.

Following that, he was traded back to Dauphin, where like so many others, he had some of the most fun of his life, and met his now wife.

Like many, it was simply growing up loving the game, but fortunately for Robertson he enjoyed success through his minor and junior days.

It wasn’t a storybook career, nor had a fairytale ending of winning another championship, but just showing up two the rink to be the best teammate he could every day.

That might be what led to the next chapter, as over two decades and counting, the game still seemingly loves him back.

• • •

After 25 years of senior hockey, there’s not a whole lot left to see in the league.

He’s even played with some of his current teammates’ dads.

“He’s getting a little older, but he’s still one of the best players in this league to be honest with you,” said Elks Coach Matt Kruk.

“He stays in great shape, but most of all he’s just so committed to this team. He’s always showing up, never takes a night off, he is at practises 100 per cent of the time, and those are big things in senior hockey. Often times guys can’t make it for whatever reasons, but when you have a team that shows up for each other, and a guy like him leading the way, it helps everyone moving forward.”

Some of his former teammates have moved on to play with the Souris Barleys, the town’s old-timers team, and while he’s been encouraged to join them, he’s not ready to graduate to that level just yet.

Kruk, yet another former Elk to have played with Robertson, is thankful for Robertson’s longevity.

“We’d gladly have him back next year, and the year after that. He’s obviously older than a lot of the guys in the room, but having the veteran presence, that voice in the locker room helps the younger guys quite a bit too,” said Kruk.

“I’m quite a bit younger than him too, but to have that guy that’s been around so long and played so much hockey it’s great having a guy like him to lead the way.”

Current teammates agree, as Robertson has nearly two decades more experience in the game than the next oldest member of the team, but they still refer to him as the glue that holds the team together.

“There are plenty of guys out here half his age that can’t keep up or do what he does,” said teammate Ben Williams.

“At his age he’s still out there flying around. It’s obvious he loves the game, loves being out there, loves being with the guys, and he’s still got that drive as the ultimate competitor.”

The two have played together with the Elks for going on seven years, but Williams and the rest of the squad genuinely appreciate having him around, and don’t want to see him graduate to old-timers any time soon.

“A lot of leadership, on and off the ice, he’s the ultimate competitor, he loves the game, he loves the guys, he shows up to every game with the biggest smile on his face,” said Williams.

“He’s a really good mentor to the young guys coming up in this league.”

Originally recruited to play with the Boissevain Border Kings, but declined because he had another enticing offer: older brother Bill played with the Elks, and they’d welcome him to Souris with open arms.

Having never played together because of their age gap, the younger Robertson jumped at the chance to play with a guy he looked up to for so many years.

His welcome-to-the-league moment was the kind you’d expect from senior hockey.

Bill, always a defenceman while Ashley was always a forward, took exception to a hard cross-check the younger brother took in one of their first games together.

The older brother, although on the bench at the time, took offence and sprung into action.

“Before I could even get up, Bill jumped the boards and started fighting the guy,” said Robertson.

“Of course I got bugged about that for a while, but it was fun playing with my brother.”

Being senior hockey, and the majority of players having played at high levels where fighting is very much part of the game, fisticuffs still happen in the THHL, albeit not as frequently as 25 years ago.

Never one to shy away from conflict, which is inevitable at every stage of the game, Robertson had the good fortune to mostly avoid injuries: a broken nose in junior, one very hard, but very clean body-check led to a strained shoulder early in his senior hockey days, and one “that I don’t really like talking about, but I always do end up talking about,” Robertson noted.

Just a few seasons ago, after avoiding a mid-ice collision in a late-season game, Robertson spun around to another opponent closing distance fast, who miscalculated the space between the two resulting in the opponent’s knee landing squarely in Robertson’s crotch.

It took a few days for the swelling to subside before revealing the severity of the injury.

“It wasn’t technically ruptured,” Robertson said of one of his testicles. “I didn’t up losing it thankfully, but it was bad enough.”

Never more thankful, even though he couldn’t walk normally for weeks.

What might have hurt most from his only significant injury was having to miss that year’s playoff run.

The blow came in the Elks’ final regular season game, meaning Robertson had to miss on the most meaningful games in the post-season, which hurt more than anything.

“Yeah it’s senior hockey, but the guys want to win,” said Robertson. “In our area, it means something to play for the town. It’s competitive, it’s fun, it’s good hockey, and sometimes tempers flare and things get out of hand.”

“From back then until now, though, it is very different, but when the games get physical, I sure feel it the next day.”

• • •

While he holds the current oldest player in the league title, he’s certainly not unique, not even the oldest player that he knows of to have played in this league.

Robertson pointed to Kelly Glowa, who after lighting up the Western Hockey League with the Brandon Wheat Kings and a pro career overseas, lit up the THHL into his 50s.

Robertson also pointed out the Sunaert family in Deloraine, where a father-son combo played for the Royals.

The milestones and achievements pale in comparison to family, friends, and the love of the game.

With the death of his father in February 2023, Robertson has never been more thankful and appreciative of his own family and the role they played in his journey.

Admittedly, with age and experience he does take time to reflect on the many players that he’s thankful to have played with and against, and the many other people that influenced his journey in the game.

“People always say you can play rec hockey, old-timers, and those are fun, but I still have the competitiveness in me. There’s no better feeling than being able to throw a body check,” said Robertson.

“That and the guys I play with in Souris. All these towns, it could be anywhere, you end up having a bond amongst the guys, and that’s what keeps you coming back.”

“You want to see them next year, you want to keep playing together … there’s always a few guys that will be back next year that keep you coming back.”

The final regular season home game was a bit like how this season has gone for Robertson and the Elks, resulting in a 8-0 loss to Boissevain.

The Souris rink had about 200 people in attendance and was a typical Friday night at the rink. Fans were there in support, regardless of the final score.

Robertson has to settle for post-game hugs from family instead of a post-season run this year, and he still hasn’t decided what’s in store for next year just yet.

You can bet he’ll be on skates, just like the kid at Minto rink.

It’s more than apparent the love of the game is deeply ingrained in Robertson, whether that came from his family, his environment, or within, it doesn’t really seem to matter.

It’s there, it’s timeless, and Robertson is another senior hockey player proving it’s ageless.

» mpackwood@brandonsun.com