Jim Lewandowsky looks through a scrapbook filled with yellowing articles and photos. 
Sitting in the warmth of the Perth Junior B Blue Wings office overlooking the ice, he shakes his head when he sees a photo of himself, taken almost 30 years ago. "It really brings back memories," he says.
Back then, he was a 17-year-old defenceman, playing on a championship Blue Wings team. Now, his son, Brett, is following his example. The duo is rare in the Blue Wings history. In fact, staff say that they are the only father and son to have both played for the team in recent memory.
Growing up, Brett heard stories of the years his father played for the Perth team. He has seen and held in his own hands the Blue Wings pin his dad has kept all these years. In fact, the 18-year-old Carleton University engineering student from Kanata might not have even considered playing with the team, if his father hadn't had such a great time in the ranks of the fabled hockey club himself.
Jim played with the Blue Wings from age 17 to 20 and was a member of the team who won the North-West Division Championships in the 1981-82 season. His defence involved “crushing checks” as was mentioned in an article published that year in The Perth Courier. After graduating from the club, Jim spent time establishing himself and a family in Kanata, getting married to Caroline and together raising Brett. Now, his son is one of the reliable players on the team. A five-foot-10 forward, with 32 points garnered already this season, Brett is following in his father's footsteps to be the second generation of hockey player taking to Perth ice in the Lewandowsky family. His parents are often in the stands at the Perth Community Centre during home games, cheering on the team.
For Jim, it's a homecoming of sorts. Since he was 17 when he started playing with the Blue Wings, he spent many of his formative years in town. He and a group of five young men from the Ottawa area decided to give the Perth Junior B team a chance at the urging of friend Ray Munro, who was familiar with the team due to his family’s cottage being located in Lanark. All five boys signed with the team and never looked back. Jim recalls playing in Perth until he was for four seasons, having a vast number of memorable moments during that time. Some of those memories he shared with his son in subsequent years, making Brett admittedly curious about the team.
That curiosity was sated this fall, when co-coach of the Blue Wings, Steve Sundin, contacted the Lewandowskys to see if Brett was interested in playing with the team. Ironically, Sundin and Jim got to know each other while coaching minor hockey together about 20 years ago. Jim immediately recommended that Brett take the plunge. Brett was excited to see what Perth hockey was all about, having grown up and playing the sport in Kanata.
"I knew my dad had played here with all of his buddies and he had talked about how supportive the community here is, so I was looking forward to trying it out," Brett said.
Jim said the Perth team is known in the league for its rabid fan base. “It was true back then and it's still true now: this team means something to this community," Jim said. "You can see it at every game. Some teams only get 30 fans to a game. I loved playing here because the entire town would turn up."
He said the crowd tripled during playoffs - something which he is anxious for his son to see.
"I remember having a lot of fans out to games when we in the run to take the division," Jim said. "We had a lot of characters on the team and we had fun. Plain and simple. I think the fans saw that as well."
Skip Patterson, who coached the 1981-82 team, agreed, saying that historically during the playoff runs, the community turns out in droves.
"I think it's a small town thing. Fans come from all over to pack this place," Patterson said, sitting in the Blue Wings office and looking at a team picture taken after the boys had won the title. "During playoffs you'll notice a huge spike in the number of people here. We've had close to 1,300 (people) in here before."
Patterson said it was a different time in hockey back then as there didn't seem to be the pressure on the players that there is now. He said the five players from the Ottawa area fit in with the locals immediately. "Everyone got along really well and that translated into good hockey," Patterson said. "We had a really successful team that year."
He remembers Jim as playing rugged defence; being tall, he towered over some of the opposing players, helping him hold his own on the ice. Jim admits that he was a fringe player and that offence wasn't his forte, unlike his son. "Brett is a much better player than I was," he said, laughing. "I may be taller than he is, but his feet are faster."
Jeff Snow, current head coach and general manager of the Blue Wings, said Brett is a hard worker. "He's very skilled and leads by example," Snow said.
Brett said he's enjoying his time with the team, especially knowing that his father once took to the ice in the same arena he now plays in. Though there have been many changes to the actual building since Jim's time skating there, such as the addition of the lobby and offices upstairs, Jim said it's been like a trip down memory lane coming back to the arena to watch Brett play. He and his wife have reconnected with o many people they knew while Jim played here, even poring over Patterson's scrapbook together in the stands one evening.
"It's funny how it goes full circle," said Brett, looking at his father and smiling.