OAK BAY RECREATION CENTRE
Oak Bay Recreation Centre is a community facility consisting of an ice rink with bench seating for fans, a swimming pool, a weight room, and indoor tennis courts.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Vancouver Island Hockey League (VIJHL) teams played out of Oak Bay Rec. The Oak Bay Flyers won the VIJHL Championship three times - 1981, 1983 and 1985.
Oak Bay Recreation Centre is located a short distance from the site of the Lester Patrick Arena (corner of Epworth Street and Cadboro Bay Road) where the Victoria Cougars won the Stanley Cup in 1925. The Cougars franchise folded in 1926 and the arena burned down in 1929. On Cadboro Bay Road, across the street from the original location of the arena, is a monument commemorating the Cougars Stanley Cup victory.
Oak Bay Alumni
Bob Nicholson, the current CEO for the Edmonton Oilers, began his hockey career in 1975 at Oak Bay Recreation. He developed youth hockey programs including Oak Bay's Novice Hockey League and coached the Oak Bay Flyers in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.
In 1979, he became a technical director with the BC Hockey Amateur Association. He later went on to serve as president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada from 1998 to 2014. During his tenure, Canada won 71 medals in international competition including 44 gold and 20 silver. In 2014, he joined the Edmonton Oilers, to oversee business operations and serve as vice-chairman.
Geoff Courtnall played in the VIJHL with the Oak Bay Trios as a seventeen-year-old in 1979/80. The next year he started with the season with the Cowichan Valley Capitals and joined the Victoria Cougars in March 1981 for their playoff run.