George Warden of Kentville, Nova Scotia, was one of four men who founded the first summer hockey school in Canada. The Maritime Hockey School began operations in July of 1958.

After a 28 to 5 thrashing of the Kentville Wildcats during a league game, the president of the Wildcats realized that the fundamentals of the game were lacking in his team and indeed, in hockey across Canada. He called together his executive and all other parties interested in developing a summer hockey school to teach those fundamentals.

Eleven men arrived for the meeting. When the figure of thousands of dollars was quoted as necessary to start the school, only four men were left in the room, which happened to be the executive of the Kentville Wildcats and included Ted Cumming, Art Lightfoot, Abbie Warden, and George Warden. The school operated from 1958 to 1966 and developed many fine hockey players in the Maritimes including Paul Andrea, a Hall of Fame inductee who went from the school to the Guelph Biltmores of the New York Rangers’ farm system. The school numbered among its coaches Hall of Fame inductees Parker MacDonald and John Hanna.