Fantasy on ice
Deepa Bharath
You could spot Terry Dancey on the rink from way up high on the
bleachers.
He’s 6-foot-5 and weighs about 250 pounds.
Yet, his movements on the ice are graceful, though he slides a tad
slower than his younger teammates who are part of Anaheim Mighty
Ducks Fantasy Camp.
But it’s hard to tell this Newport Coast resident is 66 years old
unless you look at his jersey, which bears the number 66.
Dancey’s wife, Staci, bought a place for him at the four-day camp
as a special gift. The fantasy camp, for players 21 and older, is in
its second year. It ran Monday through Thursday between 4 and 6 p.m.
at Disney Ice in Anaheim.
“He left the flier about the camp lying around the house, like it
didn’t mean anything to him,” Staci Dancey said.
But she knew it meant the world to her husband. It also helped
that he has been a season ticket holder ever since the Ducks started
playing. Season pass holders get first preference for the camp.
“I’ve had those five seats on the glass for 12 years,” Dancey
said, with a smile. “Best seats in the house.”
He made sure to fill at least one of those seats on game nights.
The seats were so close to the ice that one time he could see the
blood on Paul Kariya’s teeth. The former Mighty Duck had gotten hit
on the mouth during one of the playoff games.
“And two shifts later, he comes back and scores this sensational
goal,” Dancey said, recapturing his favorite and most thrilling
Mighty Ducks moment.
A cold part of life
The passion for ice hockey may have been in the water in Toronto,
where Dancey was born.
Since he was 5 years old, Dancey remembers playing on frozen ponds
with tree branches for hockey sticks and rubber boots for goal posts.
“It used to be terribly cold outside, like, 15 degrees below zero,” he said.
But Dancey and his friends didn’t know the searing heat of the
desert from the arctic cold of a frozen tundra. They were lost in
their own world where the puck reigned supreme.
Dancey moved to the United States like many who come from a
different country in pursuit of happiness and prosperity. Dancey
founded Industrial Painting and Waterproofing, a construction company
in Newport Coast, 35 years ago. He moved to Newport Coast six years
ago.
Hockey is something that has always been a part of his life. He
still plays twice a week. For 26 years, he has also played the
Snoopy’s Senior World Hockey Tournament. Dancey formed his own team,
the Silver Eagles, which won a silver medal in its first year of
participation.
Dancey hopes he can play that tournament 10 years from now.
“I think I have a good shot at it,” he said. “I met someone at
last year’s tournament who was 93 years old.”
Dancey didn’t know how his body would react to the rigors of the
Fantasy Camp.
“He was a little concerned in the beginning that he is the oldest
member of the camp,” Staci Dancey said.
But those concerns sputtered like ice crystals under his skates as
soon as he got going.
“He loves it,” Staci Dancey said.
It was a big thrill for him to be on the ice with Ducks Head Coach
Mike Babcock.
“Come on, Terry!” Babcock yelled out to Dancey during a final game
that camp participants played Thursday night, the last night of the
camp.
“Go for it, Terry!” the coach called out.
Dancey had the puck for a few seconds and it looked like he was
going to get it past the goalie, Benjamin Hershkowitz. But as Dancey
struck the puck, it flew up over the goal post. Dancey’s face
tightened up in disappointment.
The spirit of the camp engulfs all its participants, Hershkowitz
said.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “The excitement is unbelievable.”
Sore in the morning
Age is not much of a factor when the atmosphere gets charged with
pure passion, Hershkowitz said.
“We get a chance to interact with all the players, get to know
each other,” he said. “Terry’s great. We all love the game. It’s why
we’re here.”
Dancey is one of the game’s biggest fans, said his daughter
Heather Darden, as she watched her dad play Thursday night.
“This is something he’s never done,” she said. “There’s not too
many things in life that he hasn’t done.”
He’s traveled to almost every continent. His wife calls their
house a zoo. Dancey has three dogs, a parrot and two parakeets.
For the four days Dancey was at the camp, he would talk about
nothing but hockey, his wife said.
“The locker room, the uniforms, it’s all a big thrill for him,”
she said, with a laugh. “I think it’s a guy thing. We’d be in bed and
I would try to go to sleep. But he would be endlessly talking about
it, the tips and pointers he picked up that day.”
Mornings would be hard. Dancey said he was especially sore after
the first night of playing at the camp.
“I find myself hobbling down the hall in the mornings to get my
two Advils,” he said. “But it’s worth it.”
* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.
She may be reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at
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