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Born in Donkin, Cape Breton, in 1935, Leo Amadio became a star defenceman with the Donkin Midgets and at the age of 15 was promoted to the Glace Bay Junior Miners.

He was scouted and signed by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and played for the Quebec Frontenacs. He went on to pro stops in Montreal, Shawinigan, Spokane, Sudbury, and Victoria.

His coaching career saw him return to Glace Bay as the bench boss of the Glace Bay Junior Miners after his time with the New Glasgow Rangers of the Nova Scotia Senior Hockey League.

 

Annual Program Induction Article

By Hugh Townsend

One of the great satisfactions you derive from making a living in the sports world is the large number of fine people you rub elbows with. And that’s certainly been true with me.

Across the province, and beyond its boundaries, I’ve come in contact with countless sports personalities who would make anybody’s all-star lists. I’m speaking not just of their athletic abilities, but their strengths as human beings too. And all of the associations I’ve had with athletes, coaches and officials. none were any more rewarding than the winners I enjoyed with Leo Amadio.

It was during the early 1960’s. I was running the New Glasgow bureau for our newspapers at the time. On the side, I was serving on the executive of the New Glasgow Rangers as a statistician for the Nova Scotia Senior Hockey League. Amadio spent two of those years as playing coach of the Rangers.

As a defenceman, he displayed the talents that had earlier taken him to major Junior Jockey in Quebec and on to the minor pros. As a coach, he proved to be a great leader, a great inspiration to his younger players, a man who knew and loved the game. And, as a person, he was an all-star, one of those guys who is a joy to be around.

When Leo died in the spring of 1991- far too soon at the age of 56- memories of those early 1960’s returned.

Memories of the great lineups Leo had under his wing, some of the finest players ever produced in the Pictou County area, along with a few very talented imports. But, most of all for me, memories of the many nights we spent together on highways taking us to games in such places as Halifax, Windsor and Amherst.

I always took my own car, and he always sat in the front and told the younger guys to get in the back. The late night hockey stories were so plentiful that the big guy could have written a series of books about his career and experiences in the game. But, oh, how he entertained and, oh, how he know hockey.

But our paths crossed again in 1964-65 when Amadio returned to the Rangers, but then under the helm of former NHL star Fleming Mackell, when New Glasgow represented the Maritimes in the Allan Cup play. The Eastern Canada finals were held in Sherbrooke, P.Q. and over that week- the teams played every night for seven nights- Leo was still a star on the blue line, still a thrill to watch and, in the hotel rooms after the games, still a masterful storyteller.

Born in Donkin Cape Breton, on February 2, 1935, he became a star defenceman with the Donkin Midgets and at the age of 15, was promoted to the Glace Bay Junior Miners. He was scouted and signed by the Quebec major Junior Hockey League, and played for the Quebec Citadels and Quebec Frontenacs.

He went on to pro stops with the Montreal Royals, Shawinigan Falls, Spokane, Wash., Sudbury Wolves and Victoria Cougars.

Leo’s coaching career, after New Glasgow, saw him return to Glace Bay where he coached Junior clubs, including the 1971-72 Glace Bay-Sydney metro Bees that he led to provincial, Maritime and Eastern Canadian titles.

His induction thrills us all.

It’s only too bad that he wasn’t around to savour the night.

Oh, the stories he would have told!