Wally Souter of the Kimberley Dynamiters played here in the 1960s, and what a dandy centre iceman this guy was. Some hockey players, when you see them play on a regular basis, take the occasional game off, not Wally Souter. He brought 100 percent to each Dynamiter game that he suited up for.

Blessed with an effortless skating style, and a love for the game of hockey, Souter was relentless on the penalty kill. Both Les Lilley and Bill Steenson, who coached Scooter, never hesitated to put him out on the ice for key faceoffs and pressure situations.

Wally Souter came to the Kimberley Dynamiters in 1961 from the Flin Flon Bombers, where he played his Junior hockey for three season. One year he had 25 goals and 25 assists, with no penalty minutes. Consolidated Mining and Smelting (now Cominco) gave him a good job and the opportunity to play Senior A hockey for the Kimberley Dynamiters of the Western International Hockey League.

The league was extremely strong in as much as the NHL had only six teams, ditto for the American Hockey League and the Western hockey League. There were excellent players coming out of junior on the Prairies who wanted to play top echelon hockey and still have a family, own a home, and have a decent job. Nowadays most of the players who were on the 60s Dynamiter team, the likes of Dick Bear Vincent, Walter Peacosh, Cowboy McTeer, Les Lilley, Sonny Perkinson, Paul Sinclair, Ken Willey, Tick Beattie, Graham Longmuir, Marcel Mongrain, Rheo Touzin, Wally Souter, Wayne King, Don White, Ken Dietrich, Bobby Wardle and Ed Babiuk, as well as the irepressible Charlie The Tuna Passmore, would in all likelihood be drawing a big paycheck somewhere in todays N.H.L.

Now Scooter Souter wasn't the biggest player out on there on the ice, but he had the heart of a lion. The thing I always appreciated about Wally's game was he would never shy away from the big hit, or stay away from the heavy going in front of the net, or in the corners. In the Drumheller Miners Kimberley Dynamiter Series, during the Allan Cup playoffs of 1966, Souter always answered the bell , despite being slashed and hacked by the Miners who were trying to goad Souter and his team mates into taking penalties. The Dynamiters ran into a very hot goaltender that series, Al Rollins who carried Drum to the Allan Cup.

Hockey players have long memories and certainly Scooter is no exception, When I called him recently to interview for this article, Wally vividly remembered a play where he deked out Al Rollins their goalie, and then hit the side of the net with his tap in. 45 years later, that missed chance is still in the old memory bank. That proved to be a huge momentum shift in the game. Kimberley lost two games in over time, and that was all she wrote.

Wally always showed a lot of discipline on the ice - he never retaliated, and played the game the way it should be played, cleanly and with integrity. Souter got a lot of breakaways with his speed, hence the nickname Scooter. If the W.I.H.L. would have had an award like the NHL's Lady Byng (a good sportmanship award combined with excellent play) Wally Souter would have won it a few times. His forte in hockey was being a super offensive player, who always back checked like crazy.

On the street away from the rink, Wally is a quiet unassuming guy, almost shy in a way. You would never think he was a great athlete, but he certainly was that. The large crowds at the Kimberley Civic Centre would chant Scooter when he wound up for a rush down the ice. What a terrific hockey player this guy was.

Souter retired from the Dynamiters in 1973.

Wally is retired and still lives in Kimberley BC with his wife Rose. They have two grown children, Scott who had the natural ability to play hockey like his dad , great wheels and all, and daughter Kim who had a career going in figure skating, but then fell in love with cross country running and switched to that sport. Both Scott and Kim live in Alberta and come to Kimberley quite often. They both inherited their love of skating from their Dad.

Wally had just come from an hour of skating when I called him this morning in Kimberley. At 71 he is still going strong.

Captain Kenny McTeer was a remarkable centre man for the Nitros right from the get go, coming to the hockey club from Calgary. He was the centre on the Nitro Line, but Wally Scooter Souter was right up there with Ken in terms of skill at the centre position. Both were a couple of dandy players. The rink was filled for every game back in those days - everyone in town supported the Dynamiters. Senior A hockey was something special back in the day here in Kimberley BC. Saturday nights, the rink was rocking to GO KIMBERLEY GO, In 80 years of hockey here in town you would not see a much better hockey player than the Scooter, one of our greats for sure..