Despite his love for the sport, Bob Bull never played competitive hockey as a child. He said that his parents never had the money and he never had the skill on skates. But that didn’t keep him away from the rink.
He spent his evenings during the first few years after high school, following the team his boss coached around Manitoba with a school teacher friend of his.
When he moved to Dauphin, Manitoba he had season tickets for the Kings in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. He followed them until he moved to Campbell River in 1990. During that time he also played goalie for his church hockey league, which is his only experience as a player. When he got to Campbell River he had to resort to watching the evening mens league because there was nothing else at the time.
“I couldn’t believe Campbell River didn’t have Jr. A hockey,” he said. “Dauphin was just a small farming community of less than 10,000 people.”
After spending a few years here, he moved to Powell River and had bought season ticket for the Kings Jr. A hockey over there. When he moved back here in 2000 he got involved with the Campbell River Storm.
Because of congestive heart failure, he said he couldn’t work, and he couldn’t afford to go to the games, so he signed up to volunteer.
“I love hockey,” he said. “I always say if the wife ever kicked me out you’d find me down at the arena.”
You can find Bull at the back door of the Rod Brind’Amour during Storm home games. He keeps people from entering through the back door and blows the horn when the Storm put a puck in the net.
“It’s been fun,” he said.
Bull was working security when Campbell River hosted the the Cyclone Taylor Cup in 2004 and the Keystone Cup in 2006.
“That was a big thrill for me, for three days we were in the arena all day long,” he said. “Lived in the arena, but it was fun.”
Bull has seen multiple Storm owners come and go, and he said the organization has changed a lot since the founding owner first brought the team to Campbell River, but the basic principals remain the same.
“We’ve had good years, we’ve had bad years, but now we are back in the good years,” he said.
Though there have been a few incidents where people have been escorted out due to rowdiness Bull has never had to break up a fight. He said the biggest problem is the kids running wild.
“We’ve been known for years as the best security team in the league,” he said. “It’s been good all around.”