Bruce MacNicol

Hockey

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Bruce MacNicol is a builder in the truest sense of the word. In 1991, he was chairman and co-founder of the Barrie Colts Junior B hockey club, and within two seasons, that team had won the Sutherland Cup as Ontario’s Junior B champions in 1992–93.

Seven years later, he was a co-founder of the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League, bringing major junior hockey to the city in 1998. He was also a co-sponsor of the building of the Barrie Molson Centre, the arena that made the OHL franchise possible and that remains the home of hockey in Barrie.

The results followed quickly. The Colts won the Robertson Cup as OHL champions in 1999–2000 and went on to the Memorial Cup final that same season, and returned to the Robertson Cup final in 2001–02. Behind those seasons was an extraordinary personal commitment: more than 500 hours every year devoted to recruitment, day-to-day operations and league involvement.

Across twelve years with the Barrie Colts franchises, Bruce MacNicol changed the face of hockey in Barrie — giving the city a Junior B champion, a major junior team, a home rink, and a generation of players and fans who grew up with all three.

Career highlights

• Chairman and co-founder, Barrie Colts Junior B, 1991
• Co-founder, Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League, 1998
• Co-sponsor of the building of the Barrie Molson Centre
• 1992–93 Barrie Colts Junior B — Sutherland Cup champions
• 1999–2000 Barrie Colts — Robertson Cup champions and Memorial Cup finalists
• 2001–02 Barrie Colts — Robertson Cup finalists
• More than 500 hours committed annually to recruitment, operations and league involvement
• Twelve years with the Barrie Colts franchises

• Portrait painted by Susan Rudoler