Jason La Rose
It has been more than a quarter of a century since Canada’s Men’s Olympic Team won silver at the 1992 Games in Albertville, France, returning the Maple Leaf to the podium for the first time since 1968.
To celebrate the silver anniversary of their silver medal, members of the 1992 team gathered at the Hockley Valley Resort northwest of Toronto last summer for their first reunion.
“Some of the players literally had not seen each other since we departed France on separate planes after the gold medal game, but we easily picked right up like we had actually seen each other every day for years,” said defenceman Gord Hynes, who helped organize the reunion.
In all, 11 players and four staff were in attendance, enjoying family dinners and a round of golf.
The alumni also watched a replay of their 4-2 semifinal win over Czechoslovakia that sent them to the first-ever Olympic gold medal game. (Prior to Albertville, Olympic tournaments were round-robin only, with the team with the best record claiming gold.)
Led by goaltender Sean Burke – who is heading the 2018 edition of Canada’s Men Olympic Team as general manager – and 18-year-old phenom Eric Lindros, Canada topped its group in the preliminary round with a 4-1 record before edging Germany 4-3 in the quarter-finals in the first shootout in Olympic history.
The semifinal win over the Czechs left Canada 60 minutes from its first gold medal since 1952, but golden dreams were dashed with a 3-1 loss to the Unified Team in the final.
The silver was still the best result by Canada in men’s hockey since the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen finished as runner-up at the 1960 Games, the final time a club team represented Canada.
Reunion attendees included:
• Dave Archibald • Lori Boesch (doctor) • Todd Brost • Sean Burke • Terry Crisp (assistant coach) • Kevin Dahl • James Gattinger (athletic therapist) • Gord Hynes • Fabian Joseph • Joé Juneau • Dave King (head coach) • Eric Lindros • Brad Schlegel • Randy Smith • Jason Woolley