Old Rochester Regional hockey alumni gathered Saturday night on Travis Roy Rink at Tabor to play in the program’s first organized alumni game, set up by current ORR hockey coach Scott Hartley.

More than 30 players—with graduation dates spanning from the 70s to the 2000s—skated in the event many said was long overdue.

Hartley, who lives in Rochester, played for ORR 20 years ago. He’s also been involved as a hockey coach for about nine years.

“Since I’ve been here, people have asked why we didn’t have an alumni game sooner,” Hartley said. “So I thought we could give it a shot. It’s a beautiful rink here, and I’d love to make this an annual event. People even wanted the game to be taped for ORCTV, so it’s a big deal.”

The early days of ORR hockey involved playing at Tabor on an outdoor rink lined with chain link fence, a stark contrast to Roy Rink’s Plexiglas panels and mesh netting for protecting spectators.

Though the game play wasn’t too rough, Mattapoisett resident Danny Lee said it made him realize how out of practice he was.

“I was already winded by the end of the first period,” Lee said. “There’s some competition out there, and it’s great seeing some of these guys and playing with them again.”

Goalie Glen Gaspar, ’78, was one of the older alumni on the rink. Though now living in Providence with his wife, Janice, Gaspar grew up in Mattapoisett. Janice said he still plays with a team called “The Roadie Oldies,” with players aged from 50 to even 83.

“He was looking forward to this game,” Janice said. “He always loves to come back to the area and see all of his old haunts.”

The same could be said for Ryan McFee, ’94, who recently moved to Fairhaven after growing up in Mattapoisett and living in Boston.

“To just be back and reminisce, that’s the best part,” McFee said. “We had a great program while I was a sophomore, so seeing them and trying to one-up the guys who were seniors at the time makes it fun, too.”

Hartley said the response was bigger than he could have imagined, due to little promotion. Overall, he thought the game was perfect.

“The biggest thing is there was a lot of family playing,” he said. “These are people that may not get to play each other again, so this gives them a chance to skate. We have several players overseas that want to get in on the game too. So we’ll just start planning now and see what worked so well this time around.”