When Fred LaLonde first signed up to volunteer at Inch Park Arena in 1964, he never dreamed that 50 years later, he would still be volunteering in Hamilton junior hockey.

"It never entered my mind," LaLonde says. "I never even thought of it."

Yet on a cold February night in 2015, as the Ancaster Avalanche kick off their first-round playoff series against the Niagara Falls Canucks, a now-74-year-old Fred LaLonde is there taking tickets and doing his part to help local hockey succeed in his community.

"I wanted to do something for the kids," he says. "I started and just kept going, and going, and going."

The 2014-15 season marks LaLonde's 50th season as a volunteer in Hamilton hockey. His career, which has seen him work thousands of games for several different teams, started with a shovel and an early wake-up call.

"I started out when my stepsons were playing at Inch Park. I was a volunteer with the Peewee division. I had to go over there and shovel snow off the ice at 5 in the morning, because they started at 6."

In the 50 years since, he's worked with eight different junior hockey teams, including his current roles taking tickets for the Jr. B Ancaster Avalanche and Jr. A Hamilton Red Wings. LaLonde says he gets all the pay he needs in knowing he had a part in helping kids reach the next level.

"I don't ask for money. I never have in 50 years. When I hear that a kid made it somewhere big, I feel just as good as he does, because I know I did something to help get him there."

While LaLonde was working with the Stoney Creek Warriors in 2011, one of those players returned to work in junior hockey, completing the circle and leading to an interesting meeting.

Former Hamilton Kilty B Ryan Kuwabara first met LaLonde as a 15-year-old rookie in the 1987-1988 season. He went on to a lengthy pro career in Japan before returning to coach the Warriors in 2011. Upon his return, he was surprised to find LaLonde was still volunteering.

"It's pretty amazing for someone to stay that involved for all those years. To see him when I got back, it was pretty surreal to be honest."

With the franchise now in Ancaster, Kuwabara has come to realize just how important volunteers like LaLonde, who was named Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League Volunteer of the Year in 2012-13, are to the success of a junior hockey team.

"They give up their time and their nights. Anything they're able to contribute helps our team run," Kuwabara said. "They're the backbone of any organization, and Fred is definitely an asset for any team that he's volunteering for."

LaLonde said as he gets older, it gets physically harder to get to the rink every game, but he gets a little push from his wife Marilyn once in a while.

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"Some days I want to pack it in. I don't want to go. But Marilyn is the inspiration to me. She says 'If you like it, go.' So I go. I even got her involved now."

With 50 years under his belt, LaLonde says he wants to keep working as long as his health allows.

"It could be another year, two years, or five years, but right now it's year-to-year."

With an improbable career that has spanned six decades slowly coming to an end, LaLonde says the countless hours in chilly arenas were all worth it.

"I can look back at all the years I've been involved and say that I accomplished something. I did my part to help those boys get somewhere in life."