Thursday, February 5, 1998
Crazy about those Mercurys
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
The old, predominantly red, woolen jersey, borrowed from the Hockey
Hall of Fame, will be hung in prime position in the Team Canada dressing room
in Nagano.
They've seen it before, Al Purves' Edmonton Waterloo Mercurys 1952 Olympic
sweater with the white maple leaf on the front and `Canada' stitched above his
No. 4 on the back. It was the first thing that grabbed their eye in the
staging room three weeks ago at the All-Star Game in Vancouver.
And those Canadian pros on their way over to Japan are more than welcome to
use that sweater for whatever motivation it might provide.
From back home, the old Mercs would like them to know they're cheering for
them.
"We want to see Canada win the gold medal again before we die,'' laughed
Purves, who had donated his sweater to the Hall of Fame but hadn't been told
it was taking another road trip.
"We've had that last-team-to-win-an-Olympic-gold story long enough. It's
time another batch of those gold medals were brought home where they belong.
"We'd like to be an inspiration. We're all flag waivers, that's one thing
old Mr. Christiansen taught us,'' he said of the Waterloo Mercury owner who
financed the trip.
For years, though, maybe other people took Canada's losses at the Olympics
harder than some of the Edmonton Mercurys did.
It was their claim to fame.
And they'd been ignored all those years.
It felt good, finally, to be celebrated. And the fact is that they were
celebrated more in 1988, 1992 and 1994 than they had been when they actually
won the Olympic gold medal in hockey, the last one we'd ever win in some of
their lifetimes. Just to be invited to centre ice to be introduced before
Wednesday's Oilers game against San Jose was a kick for the old Mercs.
They were ignored when they won - because back then Canada could send over
a bunch of used car salesmen and fire fighters, like these guys, and win
hockey gold at the Olympics.
But until the organizers of the Calgary '88 Olympics did something special
to honor them, they were a forgotten team. After a while, their noses were out
of joint.
"Sure we were mad,'' Dave Miller told me about four Olympics ago. "We were
a part of history. We were the last Canadian team to win a gold medal. That's
not a bad claim to fame.''
Miller died two years ago. Thomas Pollock and George Abel passed away
between Olympics, too.
SEVEN PLAYERS REMAINING
There are seven of them, their coach and their trainer, still left.
Billy Gibson lives in Lethbridge. Ralph Hansch, Billy Dawe, Eric Patterson,
Jack Davies and Don Gauf all live in Edmonton. Coach Louis Holmes and trainer
Monty Ford are still in Edmonton as well and they all plan to sit in the
showroom of Waterloo Mercury like they did four years ago to watch the gold
medal game from Lillehammer together as a team.
Hensch, 74, was the goalie on that team and when they all got together to
watch the game at the dealership four years ago, he admits there was a tear
running down his face when the game was over and Canada had lost again.
"Those kids deserved a better fate,'' he said. "They say records were made
to be broken and this is a long one. Forty-six years is long enough.
"Bring those suckers home,'' he said of the golds.
They're all in their 70s and coach Holmes in his 80s. And while there was a
time when they were in the prime of their lives that they resented that world
championship teams like the Penticton Vees and Trail Smoke Eaters seemed to
own a special place in Canada's sports history while the last Canadian Olympic
gold medal-winning team didn't, they're over that now.
There's a book out now celebrating Canada's Olympic gold medal winning
teams. On the pages celebrating the Mercurys' win, there's a picture of the
parade back in Edmonton.
NO FAN FARE
Maybe that's how they should be remembered, in the greater glory of that
afternoon as seen in that picture as opposed to the way it really was.
They played 51 games in 85 days on a European tour leading to the Olympic
gold that year. But the truth is that when they returned home, they were only
greeted by family and friends.
Finally a downtown motorcade was arragned.
"People turned out for the parade only because they were given a half
holiday,'' remembers Purves. "I could see it on their faces. They were saying
`Who the hell are they?' ''
Finally, they ended up being a celebrated squad. And, finally, there were
people out there who wanted to hear their stories.
Like the one about how they almost didn't make it to Oslo and the '52
Olympics.
"We almost lost the whole team,'' Davies tells the one they all remember
most vividly.
"Our bus driver had to move to the shoulder of the road to avoid an
oncoming car. He lost the shoulder and rolled the bus. We plunged over the
side.''
Coach Holmes picked up the story.
"Suddenly there was a thud. We were rolling and there was broken glass
spraying everywhere. It must have been a 100-foot drop. There was only a creek
at the bottom.''
A quarter of the way down the gorge, the bus hit the tree. Make that THE
tree.
"It was the only tree visible for miles,'' Holmes laughed.
And none of them talk about that trip without mentioning the old man who
made it possible.
Without their sponsor Jim Christiansen, the Mercs wouldn't have the team to
win Canada's last gold in hockey. They wouldn't have gone.
Christiansen, who died from the pneumonia he caught during the Olympics,
bankrolled the entire team, feeding them when their Canadian Amateur Hockey
Association pittance ran out.
"If it wasn't for Mr. Christiansen we would have gone hungry a lot of
nights,'' said Holmes.
They all agree. Old man Christiansen, if he were still with us, would be
cheering hardest for Canada to finally win gold again.
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
