2009 Inductees

Mike Kinsman

Mike was born in Berwick in 1949 and began playing hockey at the age of eight on the Somerset Dam and Welsford Pond with his cousins and his two brothers, Brian and Phil. At age twelve, with the arrival of artificial ice in Berwick, he began playing hockey in the Berwick Minor Hockey program. Mike moved up through the Peewee, Bantam, and Midget programs, developing his skills as a great skater and talented scorer, always finding himself among the leading point-getters on the team. At age sixteen, while still Midget age, he was invited to play for the Halifax Junior Canadiens, the top Junior A team in the Maritimes. This team was comprised of the best junior age players in Nova Scotia and several top players from Quebec and Ontario. Two of Mike's teammates were Buster Harvey and Errol Thompson, both of whom went on to play in the NHL. The team played exhibition games every weekend against the top Junior teams in Quebec and Ontario in preparation for the Memorial Cup playdowns. The Canadiens won the Maritime Championship, defeating the Fredericton Red Wings and then defeating the Cornwall Royals in seven games. Their season ended when they lost the next round, in the Memorial Cup quarter finals, to the Shawinigan Falls Bruins.

Mike was invited back home to play for the newly formed Berwick Shell Juniors, an all star team of local boys bolstered by several players from Kentville and Greenwood. This was a popular team which regularly filled the Berwick arena to capacity. Brother Phil was an all star defenseman on this same team. The Juniors defeated the Windsor Royals in a hard fought six game series. The team ended their season by losing a six game series to the Halifax Colonels. Mike played the following two years for the Juniors before moving on to play in the Nova Scotia Senior Hockey League from 1970 to 1977. In 1978, he moved to Calgary where he continued to play as an Old-timer until forced to hang up his skates after undergoing heart surgery in 2001.

Mike began playing fastball in Somerset at a very young age, competing with men much older than him. His first organized ball was played with the championship Cambridge Red & Whites, coached by Doc Thorpe. Next came the Berwick Juniors, Berwick Alpines, Berwick Bakery, and Berwick Eassons where Mike would win two homerun titles and be named all star left fielder on several occasions. In 1977, he was player and coach of the highly talented Berwick Eassons softball team, which would finish second in the Nova Scotia playdowns, where he was again named all star left fielder.

After moving to Calgary, Mike played with various fastball teams, winning three city championships and batting titles in three consecutive years. In the city championships in 1985 he hit walk-off homers in games four and five to win the championship. All-in-all, a great career in hockey and fastball.

The Berwick Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Mike Kinsman.

Inducted June 2009