You can now own your own little piece of Duncan's iconic Big Stick
Inside Maxwell’s Auto Centre in Mill Bay is man who has his work cut out for him.
"I'll be at it for a while,” said Bart Robertson, who owns Maxwell’s Auto Centre and Genuine Collectibles.
That’s an understatement.
Robertson bought the world’s largest hockey stick, which used to reside in Duncan, but was taken down earlier this after decades of wear and tear left it at the end of its lifespan.
Now, it sits on Robertson's wrecking yard property in pieces.
Slowly but surely, that’s beginning to change. Robertson has started transforming the pieces of the iconic 28-tonne stick int "key fobs" not much bigger than a toonie.
"To build this product, I had to get it into manageable sections,” said Robertson.
The process begins in a decommissioned school bus on the grounds of the wrecking yard. One-foot-long, 300-pound sections are cut from the stick. From those sections, tubes are drilled out and cut into small circles.
Equally sized pieces are then cut out of the black protective rubber that once surrounded the stick’s massive puck.
"It's a lot of work,” said Robertson.
Both the rubber and wooden circles are then laser printed with an image of the stick in its former home over the entrance to the Cowichan Community Centre arena. The rubber and wood are then pressed together between the keepsakes' plastic casings.
"It lived in Duncan for so long, so that's what's on these key fobs now,” said Robertson.
On Monday, Genuine Collectibles began selling the first run of key fobs online. They proved extremely popular.
"There were 30,000 hits on the website,” said Robertson. "It sold-out; 600 in four hours so.”
Many customers were based on Vancouver Island, but there were orders from around the world as well.
On Thursday, a couple of those customers were picking-up their online purchases at Robertson’s shop.
"It's a piece of history, preserving it, it's awesome,” said Allen Cunningham, a Nanaimo resident.
"It was an icon in Duncan and so now it can be a piece of an icon in your pocket,” added Carol Sykes, of Duncan.
The first run of 6,000 will have four different themes, celebrating Duncan, Penticton where the stick was originally produced, Expo 86 where it was introduced to the world, and a frozen pond of the type that has led countless Canadian kids to fall in love with hockey.
"My mind is going 24-7,” said Robertson, adding that he's considering other souvenir options for the wood that will be left after the run of key fobs.
"I guess you can say, I'll milk it,” said Robertson.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Premier Moe calls on Trudeau to denounce export taxes as retaliation option against Trump
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to publicly say that export taxes will not be used as a retaliatory measure should U.S. president-elect Donald Trump impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports, arguing that there are 'other ways for us to have an impact.'
Shoppers raise complaints after being charged twice for Walmart purchases
A Saskatchewan shopper is out more than $200 after being charged twice for her grocery purchase at a Regina Walmart.
Labour minister unveils steps to end Canada Post strike
Canada Post workers began their strike four weeks ago, halting mail and package deliveries across the country. Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he hopes work will resume as early as next week.
'Little girl deserves justice': Gallery erupts in anger as charges stayed against driver who killed child
In a tense courtroom, a judge stayed the charge against a Saskatoon woman who hit and killed a nine-year-old girl.
Skier who went missing at Sun Peaks Resort found dead
In a tragic turn of events, the 68-year-old man who went missing while skiing at Sun Peaks Resort earlier this week has been found dead, the RCMP confirmed Friday.
Canada's homicide rate down in most provinces, with 2 exceptions
The homicide rate is declining in Canada, and the country's three largest cities all saw double-digit percentage decreases in homicides per capita, according to data released this week.
Dreaming of a white Christmas? Here are the Canadian cities where snow has been a sure thing
With fewer than two weeks remaining until Christmas Day, weather forecasts and snowfall projections are starting to take shape but have yet to be finalized for cities across Canada.
A new AI-powered weather model could be key to the future of your forecast. But there's a catch
Accurately predicting the weather is hard — really hard, but a new AI-powered forecast model just hit a milestone that has experts saying your forecast could soon get more accurate, and further out, too.
'They believe in diplomacy, good luck': Doug Ford doubles down on energy threat as some premiers distance themselves
Doug Ford is standing behind his threat to stop providing the U.S. with electricity in response to president-elect Donald Trump's promised tariffs, even as several other premiers publicly distance themselves from the stance.