Members of the Edmonton Mercurys Jack Davies, Don Gauf, Bill Dawe, Monty Ford,
Eric Patterson and Al Purvis pose with a picture of the team from when they
were players. The team goes into the Hall of Fame in April.
- Christine Vanzella, Edmonton Sun
Tuesday, December 11, 2001
Mercurys rising
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
Once the 'Forgotten Team' that in 1952 won our last Olympic hockey
gold medal, the Mercs have stood the test of time and just got hotter
yesterday when the already-famous club was named to our Oly Hall of Fame
Fame is a funny game.
Sometimes it's fickle. Sometimes it's fleeting. And sometimes, it's almost
farcical.
How else would you describe the way the fame game played out with the
Edmonton Waterloo Mercurys?
I was trying to explain it to some of my colleagues yesterday after they
inquired about something goalie Eric Patterson said at the podium at the press
conference where the Mercs were announced as having been named to the Canadian
Olympic Hall of Fame.
Patterson thanked me for writing a column many, many years ago titled 'The
Forgotten Team' which he says he saved and treasured with the gold medal that
he pulled out of his pocket to reveal is now silver on the display side.
He suggested my column was the start of the unbelievable rebirth of this
team which culminated yesterday with them becoming not only Olympic Hall of
Famers but the first Canadian team bigger than it takes to fill a bobsled to
make it into the Canadian Olympic Hall.
Nice of him to say that on a public platform, but I refuse credit. What
really did it, a few years later, was the 1988 Calgary Olympics deciding to
celebrate this team, along with a select few of Canada's other golden greats
of the greatest show on snow.
THE ENDLESS LOSING
After that it was just the endless losing. Every year Canada didn't win the
gold in hockey at the Olympics, these guys became bigger and bigger and
bigger. And now, 50 years since the Edmonton Waterloo Mercurys became the last
Canadian hockey team to win Olympic gold, 50 years since they won the 1952
Oslo Olympic Winter Games, they're certainly bigger than they were then and
bigger than they've ever been before.
The 2002 Salt Lake City Canadian Olympic team official team jackets,
uniforms and other apparel are all modeled after the maple leaf crest and the
'Canada' lettering they wore on their jackets and uniforms in Oslo a half
century ago.
Fame usually starts larger than life and then shrinks in size from year to
year until, 50 years later, almost nobody has ever heard of you unless you
were great.
It really has worked the other way with these guys. They really were 'The
Forgotten Team' for most of those 50 years.
"We're all so proud. It's fantastic, really. Unbelievable,'' said Jack
Davies. "After all the quiet we had ...''
Funny how it's always worked with these guys. Everything has kind of always
kicked in late for them. Like when they won the gold and came home to Edmonton
with almost no notice. It was no big deal.
"It was a couple of weeks after we got back that somebody decided we
deserved a parade,'' recalled Al Purvis yesterday.
Not that there was anything wrong with the better-late-than-never parade.
"It was nice. They had floats. And the mayor let the school kids out,''
remembered Patterson. "The parade started at Waterloo Mercury and went down
Jasper Avenue a few blocks and then back down 102 Avenue to Waterloo. We were
all quite thrilled by it.''
They were forgotten fast after that.
"For a long time that was pretty much it. Then somebody dug up the
dinosaur. And they've pretty much dug up the dinosaur every four years ever
since,'' said Purvis.
EVERY FOUR YEARS ...
Patterson says it's been amazing, really.
"Every four years they bring us out of the closet. It's a little early this
year.''
Bill Dawe said they're all very proud.
"Fifty years has been a long time but this was worth waiting for.''
Back when these guys were young, Canada always won the Olympic gold in
hockey. This team basically was selected because they won the Intermediate 'A'
title and represented Canada at the 1950 world championships in London. They
were great Canadian ambassadors.
That, and the fact that Waterloo Mercury owner Jim Christiansen was willing
to foot the bill that earned them the honour of going to the 1952 Olympics and
a pre-Olympic tour where they went 42-7-2.
"Mr. Christiansen would have been very proud today,'' said Purvis. "He was
a great Canadian. He was extremely proud of his team. Going to those Olympics
I was once told cost him over $100,000 in 1952 money. I'm sure that would be
more than a million, maybe several million, today. And he did it willingly. It
was all about pride. He was always waving the Canadian flag. He wouldn't even
let us move our skates during the anthem.''
This year, more than any other year before, they'll be cheering for this
team to end their reign. It's their crest, their uniform, their team. It's
Oiler greats Wayne Gretzky and Kevin Lowe running the team. It's ex-Oil King
Pat Quinn and Edmonton product Ken Hitchcock coaching it ...
"It's a lot of those things,'' said Davies. "But mostly, it's about time.''
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
