A large ice patch in a farmer's field was a good find for Allan Andrews when he was a child.
Donning his homemade skates - a pair of his father's "gum rubbers" and straight skates tied together with twine - he and friends would hit the ice pretending to be their favourite hockey players.
The hockey idols they often imitated were not NHL stars, though. They were the Freetown Royals - who played during the 1940s and 1950s.
"These people were real heroes. A lot of them were hardworking men who... farmed all day and at the same time would go by horse and sleigh to the games in the evening," Andrews said recently.
These heroes are part of the reason Andrews started his world-famous hockey school on P.E.I., where players like Sydney Crosby and Brad Richards were trained.
"Everyone has a dream ... The Royals are probably what inspired mine," said Andrews.
Every year anywhere from five to 10 athletes are drafted to the NHL from Andrews Hockey Growth Programs, which train about 2,100 potential players from around the world.
Andrews is now passing the puck of inspiration to other hockey hopefuls, the way it was passed to him.
Andrews said although the Royals were a small town team they always filled a rink drawing crowds in through snow and rain.
"I've been in that rink when people were hanging out of the rafters it was so full," said Andrews of the games at Bedeque rink.
"They were literally up in the rafters."
"We would have to walk two miles to the village (to see the games) and then get on the back of a truck and I think that cost us 25 cents, but that wasn't any type of effort for us we'd get there any way we could."
After the games Andrews and his friends would sift through crowds to the Royals' dressing room to hang out with their favourite players, who always made time for them.
"They were so easy to talk to," Andrews said.
"They were just average guys."
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