Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope is putting forward a proposal to re-name Dresden Arena in honour of the late Ken Houston.
While presenting a notice of motion on Monday night, Hope said he is proposing to re-name the arena in Dresden to the “Ken Houston Lambton-Kent Memorial Agricultural Centre”.
“The late Ken Houston provided an inspiration to all local youngsters and a source of pride to all local residents throughout his nation hockey career,” Mayor Hope said.
“Mr. Houston made Chatham-Kent his life-long home and gave unselfishly of his time and his efforts to a long list of charities and community events. I was approached by a large number of people in Dresden during the Exhibition that were seeking a permanent public acknowledgement of the legacy of Mr. Houston.”
Hope’s motion is set to be presented at the Monday, September 10 council meeting.
Houston, who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League, died peacefully at home on Saturday, March 10, with his family by his side after a battle with cancer.
He was 64.
Houston played junior hockey with both the Dresden Kings and the Chatham Maroons.
His professional hockey career started after he was drafted by the Atlanta Flames in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft.
He played seven seasons for the Flames, including two after the team relocated to Calgary.
He was traded to the Washington Capitals in the 1981–82 NHL season.
He played there until October 1983 when he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings.
He retired at the end of the 1983–84 NHL season.
In 570 career NHL games Houston scored 161 goals and had 167 assists for 328 points.
He also recorded 624 penalty minutes.
In 35 career NHL playoff games Houston scored 10 goals and added 9 assists for 19 career playoff points. He also had 66 penalty minutes in those 35 games.
In 1997, Houston was inducted as an inaugural member of the Dresden Sports Hall of Fame.
