George "Buck" Boucher, once an NHL star with the Ottawa Senators, was in charge of selecting the players for Canada's 1948 Olympic squad.

Canada's 'Miracle Men' from 1948
By Mike Wyman | NHL.com correspondent
Jan. 27, 2006

Some months prior to the 1948 Winter Olympics, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association announced that International Olympic Committee's tightened amateur eligibility rules made it impossible for them to ice a team for the St. Moritz competition.

To Sandy Watson, an ophthalmologist serving in the Canadian Air Force, that Canada would be unrepresented in Olympic hockey was an abomination. He lobbied both the CAHA and the Canadian Air Force and was given permission to put together a team, drawing upon the 16,000 members of the RCAF.

Sixty men converged on Ottawa from bases around the country and worked out under the watchful eye of George "Buck" Boucher, once an NHL star with the Ottawa Senators and then coach of the Quebec Senior Hockey League team that bore the same name. Boucher was in charge of selecting the players. His son, Frank, would coach them.

The squad that resulted was not one that inspired confidence. They lost a number of games to opposition that was not as stiff as they would face overseas. The media sat up and took notice. They were not supportive in the least.

"I think the game against McGill, that we lost 7-0, was the one that really upset people," said defenseman, Roy Forbes. "I think it was an Edmonton paper that said we were a disgrace to hockey and we were going to be a disgrace to the country.

"After that one everything turned around. All kinds of changes were made and guys were brought in," he recalled. "I think there were only five or six of us who played in that game who stayed with the team."

Moving outside RCAF ranks, the team picked up five civilians from an Ottawa area senior squad. Reg Schroeter and Fran Dunster had both served in the air force in the Second World War, while Ab Renaud had spent time in the Army. Neither Ted Hibberd nor Pete Leichnitz had been old enough to enlist during hostilities.

These changes didn't inspire any great support for the team and it's chances in St. Moritz as far as the media was concerned. The Ottawa Journal stated that the Flyers were no more than an intermediate level hockey team and that it was unfair to expect them to compete against teams that would outclass them by a wide margin.

Sadly aware that his team was still short of talent, Watson cast his eye towards Toronto and picked up forwards George Mara and Wally Halder. He also acquired goaltender Dick Ball of the University of Toronto.

When he was first offered the chance to join the RCAF Flyers, Mara, who would captain the team, passed it up.

"I was in Maple Leaf Gardens getting some tickets and I ran into W.A. Hewitt, the secretary of the Ontario Hockey Association. He said they were having a hell of a time with this Olympic team."

Returning to the office Mara found a message to call Hewitt back and did so.

Mara recommended Wally Halder, but turned down the invitation he was offered before rapidly reconsidering.

"I put the phone down and realized I was missing an exciting opportunity," Mara said. "So I called Hewitt back and said that I'd managed to make myself available."

Dick Ball failed to pass the team physical, so another call went out to Toronto, this time to Murray Dowey, who started packing immediately.

"I got into Ottawa the next day and they got me fitted out with a uniform," Dowey said. "The next day we were down to New York and on the boat. The only guys who had seen me play were Mara and Halder."

Two wins over English teams made up largely of Canadian servicemen still overseas and another over the Racing Club de Paris, the top European pro lineup, gave the team some measure of confidence when it arrived in St. Moritz.

Sweden was the first team to face the Flyers, coming out on the losing end of a 3-1 game. England was shut out 3-0 in the second game. Dowey would wind up the competition with five shutouts.

The next few games were pushovers for the Canadians. Poland fell 15-0, the U.S. went down to a 12-3 defeat and Italy was soundly drubbed 21-1.

To this day Ab Renaud savors the victory over the Americans.

"I remember going over on the Queen Elizabeth and the Americans were on the ship too," he said. "We were tourist class and I'm pretty sure they were traveling first class. They were parading around in their new windbreakers bragging on what they were going to do to us at the Olympics."

Inclimate conditions in St. Moritz did not prevent Canada from taking home the gold.

Goalie Dowey would like to have the Italian game to play over again.

"Do you know how many shots I got in the Italian game?" he asked. "One. It came off the backboards, hit my ruddy skate and went in. I wasn't too happy with that."

The sixth game, against the undefeated, gold-medal favorite Czechoslovakians, was the turning point in the competition. Having only the Swiss and Austrians left to face in the round-robin tournament, the Canadians did not have to come out of the game with a win. If Canada and the Czechs both finished with identical records, the big bulge in goal differential that the Flyers had piled up would give them top honors.

"If you play great defense, you can win and that's what we did," said Gilpin.

Czech coach Mike Buckna also emphasized defensive play, feeling his team wasn't suited to the more open game usually favored by Canadians. Neither team really threatened the other, both preferring to lay back and await the opponents' miscues. They were few and far between.

The scoreless tie saw Murray Dowey replaced by a defenseman when he was awarded a two-minute minor. With only 11 players dressed, there was no backup netminder on the Canadian bench and the rules of the day stated that a player had to serve their penalty time.

"It was the longest two minutes of my life," said Andre Laperriere. "Luckily, the guys played well in front of me and I didn't have to handle any tough shots."

With the gold medal all but won, the Flyers defeated the Austrians 12-0 and played their last game against the Swiss on a surface that merely approximated the consistency of real ice. With their team still in medal contention Swiss fans did not maintain the neutrality their homeland has been known for over the years. A steady rain of snowballs hailed own upon the visiting team, but Canada won the game 3-0 and heard The Maple Leaf Forever played at the medal ceremony.

"It was very gratifying and pretty exciting to get up on the podium and hear them play the national anthem. It gets to you," said team captain George Mara. "It was very rewarding because we didn't have a very good team and I had my doubts that we were going to be able to swing it."

The Olympic champions were in great demand and toured the major cities of Europe after the Games. Mara and Halder, the top scorers on the team returned to Canada, missing the post-Olympic tour due to commitments at home. Coach Frank Boucher suited up since amateur regulations did not apply in exhibition matches.

"In Europe at that time, nobody stood taller than Olympic champions," said Laperriere. "We were received at city halls and presented with gifts everywhere we went."

"After the Olympics you couldn't convince the Europeans that we weren't the greatest hockey team in the world," concurred Forbes. "They thought that if you were the world and Olympic champions you were the best. We really did try to tell them that teams like Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal were well above our caliber, but eventually we just sat back and enjoyed it."

Returning to Canada with a 31-5-6 record to show for their three months abroad, the team that nobody gave a chance to medal, much less to take the gold, found that a number of folks had climbed on the bandwagon since their departure.

A parade through Ottawa and a civic reception awaited the victorious RCAF Flyers on their return. Afterwards everybody went back to the lives they had interrupted.

Many of the players continued to play amateur hockey, but not one of the Flyers joined the pro ranks.

In December 2005, Hockey Canada honored the team's achievement when a banner was raised to the ceiling of the new rink at the Armed Forces Base in Trenton, Ontario. The arena is named for the RCAF Flyers. Five of the eight surviving member were in attendance.