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November 27, 2007
NR.159
CALGARY, AB – Clair Sudsbury, a former chairman of the Canadian Hockey Association (now the Hockey Canada
Board of Directors) and former president of the Prince Edward Island Hockey Association, was voted as Hockey
Canada’s 25th Life Member in a vote by the Hockey Canada Board of Directors at the semi-annual meeting on
Saturday in Calgary, AB.
 According to the Hockey Canada constitution, nominees for Life Membership must have served on the
Hockey Canada Board of Directors, and brought recognition to Hockey Canada at the national or international
level and/or made an outstanding or extraordinary contribution to the growth and development of Hockey
Canada.
After two years as vice-president of the Prince Edward Island Hockey Association (now Hockey PEI) and
president of the Prince Edward Island Junior A Hockey League, Sudsbury, a Summerside native, took over as
president of PEIHA in 1976, a position he held until 1980, when he joined the Canadian Hockey Association
(CHA) Board of Directors as Chairman of Finance, the first native of Prince Edward Island to hold a
director’s position.
Sudsbury served as vice-chair of the CHA Board of Directors for two years (1985-1987), before being
elevated to the role of chairman of Canadian hockey’s national organization, remaining in the position until
1989. While in that position, Sudsbury also served as a CHA delegate with the International Ice Hockey
Federation, with the Canadian International Hockey Committee as a representative with national teams, and as
a Canadian representative at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary.
He concluded his 11 years with the CHA Board of Directors by serving as past chairman from 1989 to 1991,
during which time he received the CHA’s Volunteer of the Year award in 1990. He was also named Sport PEI’s
Administrator of the Year twice, in 1977 and 1988.
Serving as the president and general manager of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League’s Summerside Western
Capitals, positions he held from 1993 to 1997 – he was also general manager for the 1997-98 season – Sudsbury
led the team to the RBC Royal Bank Cup as national Junior A champions on home ice in 1997, the first Maritime
team to ever win Canadian Junior A hockey’s biggest prize. He also served as vice-president of the MJAHL from
1999-2006.
Elected as a Life Member by Hockey PEI in 2007, Sudsbury currently serves as the chairman of the Prince
Edward Island Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, a position he has held since 1996.
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