Saskatoon Blades pay tribute to Bobby Kirkness

In the transient world of junior hockey, coaches, players, general managers and even arenas come and go.

But guys like Bobby Kirkness are once in a lifetime.

Memories and stories of the longtime dressing room attendant were shared during a memorial at SaskTel Centre on Wednesday, a little more than a week after Kirkness died after a battle with cancer.

He worked at SaskTel Centre when the arena opened in 1988. After retiring in 2011, he switched over to helping the Blades in a variety of roles.

Blades vice-president Steve Hildebrand remembers the first month he arrived in Saskatoon after he was hired by the WHL team in 2000.

“I said to Bobby, ‘My wife’s looking for a job,’ ” Hildebrand said during the memorial. “By that afternoon (he) had a job for her. She still holds that job today. That’s just who Bobby was. He wanted to make sure everyone was good.”

Kirkness battled leukemia in 2016. The team renamed its pre-season tournament the Kirkness Cup. This year’s competition begins on Friday.

Every speaker at the microphone spoke about Kirkness’ positive nature and outgoing attitude that usually centred around the person he was talking to.

That trademark optimism wasn’t affected when he was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic and liver cancer in February.

“People could not believe he was sick,” Kirkness’ son Brennan said at the memorial. “He was the same person that would do anything to make someone’s day. That was something cancer could not take from him.”

The Blades wore special “BK” decals on their helmets this past season to honour Kirkness, and the WHL allowed him and Brennan into the Regina bubble as the only fans for a game against the Prince Albert Raiders.

Hildebrand said the team will do plenty more to honour “the backbone of the organization.”

“He was the epitome of what we want the Blades to be,” Hildebrand said following the memorial. “This really was his first home.

“Bobby will always be with us, and we will be reminded of that as we go on each and every year. It was better for all of us to have Bobby Kirkness in our lives. I’m happy we had this day for Bobby because he deserves every bit of this.”