The Windsor Royals will continue with their tradition of honouring a person respected in the Windsor-West Hants hockey community at their home opener.
On Oct. 28, they will celebrate Joey Dill prior to their 7:45 p.m. game time at the Hants Exhibition Arena when the Royals entertain the Antigonish Bulldogs.
Dill was inducted into the Windsor Hockey Heritage Society's Hockey Hall of Fame on Feb. 7, 1997. As well, the Nova Scotia Hockey Association recognized Dill on Oct. 21, 1981 for his contribution to amateur hockey in the province.
Dill was one of the few locals who actually spent time with the heavily based import Windsor Maple Leafs who played in the Nova Scotia Senior Hockey League in the early 1960s in Windsor.
Dill was described as a player that when the going got tough, he could be counted on to get rougher. At playoff time, the opposition learned to keep their heads up coming across the Windsor blue line.
Dill was also a member of the 1948 Windsor Royals juvenile jockey team — the first team to actually carry the Royals name in Windsor. Team members that year included Ellis Sheehy, Clayton Jodrey and Bill Foley.
Dill played 15 seasons for the Windsor Maple Leafs when they were members of the Valley Senior Hockey League as well as the Nova Scotia Senior Hockey League. He was named to the Valley Hockey League's All-Star first team as a defenseman in 1946.
Dill was a fan favourite as he always dished out physical punishment at the blue line and was essentially each teams’ police officer as he played on various championship teams in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Royals hope hockey fans will come out to celebrate the contributions Dill made to hockey in Windsor and cheer them on when they take on the Bulldogs Oct. 28.
