Fantasy on ice

Deepa Bharath

You could spot Terry Dancey on the rink from way up high on the

bleachers.

He’s 6-foot-5 and weighs about 250 pounds.

Yet, his movements on the ice are graceful, though he slides a tad

slower than his younger teammates who are part of Anaheim Mighty

Ducks Fantasy Camp.

But it’s hard to tell this Newport Coast resident is 66 years old

unless you look at his jersey, which bears the number 66.

Dancey’s wife, Staci, bought a place for him at the four-day camp

as a special gift. The fantasy camp, for players 21 and older, is in

its second year. It ran Monday through Thursday between 4 and 6 p.m.

at Disney Ice in Anaheim.

“He left the flier about the camp lying around the house, like it

didn’t mean anything to him,” Staci Dancey said.

But she knew it meant the world to her husband. It also helped

that he has been a season ticket holder ever since the Ducks started

playing. Season pass holders get first preference for the camp.

“I’ve had those five seats on the glass for 12 years,” Dancey

said, with a smile. “Best seats in the house.”

He made sure to fill at least one of those seats on game nights.

The seats were so close to the ice that one time he could see the

blood on Paul Kariya’s teeth. The former Mighty Duck had gotten hit

on the mouth during one of the playoff games.

“And two shifts later, he comes back and scores this sensational

goal,” Dancey said, recapturing his favorite and most thrilling

Mighty Ducks moment.

A cold part of life

The passion for ice hockey may have been in the water in Toronto,

where Dancey was born.

Since he was 5 years old, Dancey remembers playing on frozen ponds

with tree branches for hockey sticks and rubber boots for goal posts.

“It used to be terribly cold outside, like, 15 degrees below zero,” he said.

But Dancey and his friends didn’t know the searing heat of the

desert from the arctic cold of a frozen tundra. They were lost in

their own world where the puck reigned supreme.

Dancey moved to the United States like many who come from a

different country in pursuit of happiness and prosperity. Dancey

founded Industrial Painting and Waterproofing, a construction company

in Newport Coast, 35 years ago. He moved to Newport Coast six years

ago.

Hockey is something that has always been a part of his life. He

still plays twice a week. For 26 years, he has also played the

Snoopy’s Senior World Hockey Tournament. Dancey formed his own team,

the Silver Eagles, which won a silver medal in its first year of

participation.

Dancey hopes he can play that tournament 10 years from now.

“I think I have a good shot at it,” he said. “I met someone at

last year’s tournament who was 93 years old.”

Dancey didn’t know how his body would react to the rigors of the

Fantasy Camp.

“He was a little concerned in the beginning that he is the oldest

member of the camp,” Staci Dancey said.

But those concerns sputtered like ice crystals under his skates as

soon as he got going.

“He loves it,” Staci Dancey said.

It was a big thrill for him to be on the ice with Ducks Head Coach

Mike Babcock.

“Come on, Terry!” Babcock yelled out to Dancey during a final game

that camp participants played Thursday night, the last night of the

camp.

“Go for it, Terry!” the coach called out.

Dancey had the puck for a few seconds and it looked like he was

going to get it past the goalie, Benjamin Hershkowitz. But as Dancey

struck the puck, it flew up over the goal post. Dancey’s face

tightened up in disappointment.

The spirit of the camp engulfs all its participants, Hershkowitz

said.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “The excitement is unbelievable.”

Sore in the morning

Age is not much of a factor when the atmosphere gets charged with

pure passion, Hershkowitz said.

“We get a chance to interact with all the players, get to know

each other,” he said. “Terry’s great. We all love the game. It’s why

we’re here.”

Dancey is one of the game’s biggest fans, said his daughter

Heather Darden, as she watched her dad play Thursday night.

“This is something he’s never done,” she said. “There’s not too

many things in life that he hasn’t done.”

He’s traveled to almost every continent. His wife calls their

house a zoo. Dancey has three dogs, a parrot and two parakeets.

For the four days Dancey was at the camp, he would talk about

nothing but hockey, his wife said.

“The locker room, the uniforms, it’s all a big thrill for him,”

she said, with a laugh. “I think it’s a guy thing. We’d be in bed and

I would try to go to sleep. But he would be endlessly talking about

it, the tips and pointers he picked up that day.”

Mornings would be hard. Dancey said he was especially sore after

the first night of playing at the camp.

“I find myself hobbling down the hall in the mornings to get my

two Advils,” he said. “But it’s worth it.”

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at

deepa.bharath@latimes.com.