Football, Hockey
Walter “Bubsy” Mills was an integral part of athletics at St. Thomas in the 1950s. According to the legendary Vance Toner, he was “a remarkable character who played whatever you wanted played.” He was a talented two-way player in football as a fullback and linebacker and always left everything on the ice in a hockey game. Vance Toner recalled in a letter in 2003 one high school hockey game which ended in a tie and moved to sudden death overtime. “Bubsy implored me to ice his line and he promised to score immediately and end the contest. I started a fresher line. The next change was Bubsy’s line. Bubsy proceeded to the Fredericton bench and warned the players they could take off their skates, he was going to score immediately. From the face-off, he received the draw from the centre, made two evasive moves toward the goal and scored.” His first outing as a high school basketball player saw him named most valuable player at a tournament in Fredericton. Bubsy Mills was an all-round athlete who excelled at every sport which is why many said had he focused on one, he would easily have made a professional career.