A tradition started three decades ago when the first Canadian junior team from the program of excellence captured gold and sang the national anthem in celebration. Here is that story 30 years later.
O Canada was never played that day three decades ago.
A proud group of teenagers with smiles on their faces and the Maple Leaf on their chests stood on the blue-line. They waited to hear their national anthem after a 3-3 tie against Czechoslovakia was enough to give Canada its first gold medal in world junior hockey on Jan. 2, 1982. But they waited and waited.
Depending on which story you believe, the problem was either that tournament organizers in Rochester, Minn. thought the Czechs were going to win and there was no Canadian anthem to be played, or the International Ice Hockey Federation doesn't play an anthem when there is a tie.
"The bottom line is they should have played it because we had won the gold medal," said Mike Moller, Canada's leading scorer that year with five goals and 14 points in seven games.
Instead, after the gold medals were handed out, the Canadian players sang O Canada a cappella, and ever since, singing out loud has become a tradition when the Canadian junior team wins gold.
"It wasn't planned, but finally a few guys at the end of the line said, 'Sing it ourselves, boys,'" Moller said. "So we stood there shoulder to shoulder and belted out what was probably the worst rendition of our national anthem."
The 1982 team hit all the right notes, however. It was the first edition of Hockey Canada's program of excellence, which in 30 years has produced 15 gold, seven silver and three bronze medals and an unmatched record of 149-33-19. Canada has won a medal in 13 consecutive world junior tournaments and in 20 of the last 22.
Canada has not struck gold, however, since 2009. This year's squad has a quest to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the program in grand style when it opens play against Finland in Edmonton on Monday.
30-year anniversary
Hockey Canada has produced a book, Thirty Years of the Game at its Best, to commemorate the three decades of the program. Interestingly, that first team in 1982 had brothers Randy and Mike Moller on the team and there hasn't been a sibling combination on the team until this year when Dougie and Freddie Hamilton cracked the roster.
Each member of that 1982 team went onto play in the NHL and later became NHL and junior coaches, firemen, policemen, company owners and radio play-by-play broadcasters.
"What I remember is the closeness of that team. Even today we remain close," said Marc Habscheid, now the coach-general manager of the WHL's Victoria Royals.
With the exception of the Wayne Gretzky-led junior all-star team in 1978 that captured the bronze medal, the Memorial Cup winner used to represent Canada at the world juniors.
In 1981, the star-studded Cornwall Royals took up the challenge. But despite having a roster that included standout juniors such as Dale Hawerchuk, Doug Gilmour, Marc Crawford, Eric Calder and Roy Russell, the Royals finished seventh.
"It was an embarrassment," said Murray Costello, the former Canadian Hockey Association president. "With all the good young players in this country, we had to look at alternatives."
Costello and his CHA sidekick at the time, Dennis MacDonald, felt the national team approach was the best. So Costello lobbied the federal government and received start-up funding. The program was off to the races.
That summer, Costello contacted three coaches -- Dave King, Mike Keenan and Jacques Lemaire -- to run a summer camp in Kingston. The coaching trio built the foundation for a number of candidates who would make up the team in December.
10 no-shows
King, who was then coaching at the University of Saskatchewan, was the only one of the three free to coach during the Christmas holidays. Along with co-GMs Sherry Bassin and Bob Strum, King sent 31 invitations for the final tryout camp that was held a week before the tournament. Only 21 showed up.
"The major junior clubs weren't gung ho about lending us their players," Costello said. "We didn't know if any guys would show up."
Among those who didn't show up were injured Tony Tanti of the Oshawa Generals, defenceman Steve Smith of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Brent Sutter of the Lethbridge Broncos.
"This tournament was in the middle of the season and some teams did not want to give up their stars," Moller said. "I played with Sutter in Lethbridge and he was not released. But my dad told Murray [Costello], 'If you want my [sons], they will be there.' "
Late invitations were extended to Mike's brother, Randy, Paul Cyr, Dave Morrison and Pierre Rioux, who all made the team.
The selection process was not without controversy. On the final day, it was determined that Kitchener Rangers forward Brian Bellows would not recover from a separated shoulder in time, so he was sent home. And the final cut was Bellows teammate, defenceman Al MacInnis.
Strum, the Regina Pats GM at the time, had his standout blue-liner Garth Butcher drive in from Regina as a last-minute replacement.
"I used to remind Al every time I would see him," Butcher said. "He's getting the last laugh now."
19 major juniors
Canada had 19 players from major junior, Troy Murray and James Patrick from the University of North Dakota and Carey Wilson, who after a season with the Calgary Wranglers and two years at Dartmouth College, was playing in Finland with IFK Helsinki.
Even though the 1982 world junior tournament was hosted by the United States and based in Minnesota, Canada opened the round-robin event with three games in Winnipeg. The curtain raiser saw King celebrate his 34th birthday with a 5-1 win against Finland.
In the second game, against defending champion Sweden, Canadian captain Murray tied the score 2-2 and hometown hero Wilson scored the winner with five minutes 19 seconds remaining.
The biggest test was on Boxing Day against the Soviet Union. Both teams were undefeated. The Winnipeg Arena was jammed and the game was broadcast coast to coast on CTV. It was no contest. Bruce Eakin, Mark Morrison (no relation to Dave), Habscheid, Moller, Scott Arniel, Cyr and Paul Boutilier scored in a 7-0 romp by Canada. Mike Moffat got the shutout.
The crowd went wild. The lobbies were so jammed with jubilation that the Canadian players had difficulty escaping the party. To this day, the result remains Canada's largest shutout victory over the powerful Soviets.
"At that time, we were still the underdogs," Wilson said. "But when we clobbered the [Soviets], it hit us that we were a darn good team. It sort of turned the tide for Canadian teams to come because now this country is expected to win gold every year."
The next night, Canada was to play the United States at the Met Centre in Bloomington, Minn., the home of the defunct NHL's North Stars. Rather than endure a nine-hour bus ride from Winnipeg, Bassin persuaded the CHA to spring for a chartered flight to combat a host team that included Chris Chelios, Phil Housley and John Vanbiesbrouck.
"There were 13,000 people in that arena and 12,980 of them were waving U.S. flags," Bassin said. "They outshot us 18-4 in the first period."
Caprice shuts door
On the strength of Frank Caprice's netminding, Canada escaped the opening period down only 2-0. Trailing 4-3 in the second period, Rioux scored a power-play goal and Habscheid scored early in the third period to lift Canada to a 5-4 victory.
Easy-as-pie 11-3 and 11-1 victories against Germany and Switzerland, respectively, set up the final against Czechoslovakia, in which Canada, 6-0, needed a tie to win the gold medal because the Czechs carried a 5-1 record into the match. Suddenly, the country was in a frenzy over the thought of its first international gold medal since the Trail Smoke Eaters won the 1961 world championship.
However, there was no national television coverage of the final. No newspaper reporters had followed the Canadian team until the final, when representatives of The Globe and Mail, London Free Press and Toronto Star scurried to Rochester for the game. The only broadcast for Canadians was on CBC Radio, as Fred Walker and Gerry Fogarty called the action from scaffolding erected inside the 3,000-seat arena.
Tournament organizers considered moving the game to the Met Centre, where organizers had the U.S.-Soviet match scheduled. But they decided not to strip Rochester of its day in the limelight.
It looked bleak for Canada as the Czechs held a 2-1 advantage after 40 minutes. Boutilier scored the Canadian goal.
During the second intermission, Bassin persuaded an organizer to lend him a gold medal. The emotionally charged co-general manager walked around in the dressing room waving the prize.
"He told us we could touch it, but not hold it," said Moffat, who made 38 saves against the Czechoslovaks.
Bassin went on to ask how many players had won city and provincial championships. He then said, "Well, if you don't win this third period, you will only be able to tell people you were 20 minutes away from being world champions.' "
Canada busted out with goals from by Habscheid and Moller for a 3-2 lead. The Czechs scored the tying goal, but it wasn't enough to deny the Canadians their golden moment.
"The party lasted a long time in Rochester," Bassin said. "We realized we had to get back to Minneapolis for the official ceremony. Then this rink rat, the guy who drove the Zamboni, hands me a piece of paper with a 613 phone number on it and says, 'Some guy named [Pierre] Trudeau has been trying to get a hold of you guys.' We tried to phone the Prime Minister, but no one answered.
"I wish I would have kept that piece of paper as a souvenir."
Every member of the team went on to play in the NHL. Murray went on to win a National Collegiate Athletic Association championship with North Dakota and a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.
"When you win something together, there is always a bond you have with your teammates," Murray said. "It doesn't matter how much time goes by."
The class of 1982
Scott Arniel 730 NHL games
Paul Boutilier 288
Garth Butcher 897
Frank Caprice 102
Paul Cyr 470
Bruce Eakin 13
Marc Habscheid 345
Gord Kluzak 299
Moe Lemay 317
Mike Moffat 19
Mike Moller 134
Randy Moller 815
Dave Morrison 39
Mark Morrison 10
Troy Murray 915
Gary Nylund 608
James Patrick 1,280
Pierre Rioux 14
Todd Strueby 5
Carey Wilson 552
Back to accessibility links
Canada’s 1982 world junior hockey team, which included Scott Arniel, Marc Habscheid and the Moller brothers - Mike and Randy - began the tradition of singing O Canada following a gold-medal victory. (Courtesy Hockey Canada)
Tim Wharnsby
Tim's worked the sports beat at The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Sun, specializing in Canada's one true sporting obsession - hockey. He knows the players, the coaches, the backroom boys and most importantly, the fans. That's what he brings to his stories. Knowledge, fairness and understanding are trademarks of a Wharnsby story. That's what you will get here as he writes for CBCSports.ca.
