Former Cornwall Royals captain Mike Conway has died after a long illness

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Mike “Crusher” Conway, a Cornwall fixture linked to a glory era for the Cornwall Royals hockey team, has died aged 68 after a long illness.

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Inducted into the Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame in 2010, Conway played for the Royals for three seasons in the early 1970s, captaining the club in his final year at what was then known as the Water Street Arena.

Conway was from Cornwall, born in the town in 1955, and worked in the community for decades, including making a major change of direction, going to Queen’s University and going on to teach at Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School.

Very physically active until a few years ago, Conway was a cyclist and engaged in his workouts at the health club, where his free time between sets was often filled with stories – many of them hilarious – about life in “Q”, Quebec Major A Junior Hockey League.

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The quick-witted Conway was often self-deprecating. He used to joke that he was familiar with the details of so many arena ceilings in Quebec – thanks to being thrown onto the ice and looking straight up after another hard shift in Sorel or Sherbrooke or Quebec City.

But Conway would have said it too – both verbally and with big shots and sometimes punches. He played over 200 games in three years, racked up 300 penalty minutes and, for a blueliner, had a pretty good offensive touch. Conway had 30+ assists in each of his final two Royals seasons, including the 1974-75 campaign in which he led the Royals.

He joined the team immediately after winning the first Memorial Cup in 1972 and teammates for Conway’s final major junior A campaign included many home skaters and many talented players such as Mario Vien, Al Wagar, Gerry Barden , Dan Geoffrion, Yvon. Disotell, Pierre Brassard and Ron Davidson.

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Conway’s hockey resume spanned more than three decades. In 1975, he won a Hockey Canada scholarship for academic and athletic excellence at a time when there were very few scholarships available.

After graduating from CCVS, he earned degrees from McMaster and Queen’s University. He earned his welding certification from St. Lawrence College, where he then worked locally at Domtar and Laframboise.

Conway spent three years as captain of the McMaster University team while being named a two-time Ontario OUAA All Star; his college career ended with one season of him wearing the ‘C’ as captain at Queen’s.

Continuing the tradition of being a leader on nearly every team he played for, Conway also captained the Cornwall Flyers senior team in 1981. Conway married and had a young family, and later returned to junior hockey as an assistant coach with the Cornwall Jr. A Colts from 2001 to 2004.

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Conway excelled at many sports. He was quarterback on the bantam minor team that won the Ontario championship and was a key member of the Cornwall finalist and semi-finalist teams that competed for the Intermediate National Championship ‘A’ title.

In 1988, he was a member of the men’s field hockey team that competed in the Ontario championship.

Previously, in 1969, he was a member of the team that won the Golden Horseshoe Bantam Lacrosse Tournament.

Conway died at home surrounded by his family. He was married to Colleen for 39 years and the couple had three children, Kelsey Herrington (Stephen), Brett Conway and Courtney Conway.

A celebration of life for Mike will be held at a later date. Arrangements entrusted to Wilson Funeral Home, 822 Pitt Street (613-938-3888). For those who wish, memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer Society. Online condolences may be shared at www.wilsonfuneralhome.ca

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