Ottawa RCAF Flyers

Olympic medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing Canada

The Ottawa RCAF Flyers were a Canadian senior ice hockey team from the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) base in Ottawa. The team was made up of active and former RCAF members and Canadian Army personnel. The team won the gold medal in the 1948 Winter Olympics and the 1942 Allan Cup championship. The team was inducted into the Canadian Armed Forces Sports Hall of Fame in 1971. In 2001, the 1948 team was honoured by the Canadian Forces when it was selected as Canada's greatest military athletes of the 20th century.^[1]

1948 Winter Olympics[]

Ottawa RCAF Flyers at the 1948 Winter Olympics

In October 1947, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) announced that the senior ice hockey team from the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) base in Ottawa would represent the Canadian national team in ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics.^[2] At the time, the CAHA had ongoing disagreements with the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace and the International Olympic Committee on the definition of an amateur, and the RCAF team was a compromise to meet the amateur eligibility requirements of the Olympics.^[3] CAHA vice-president Norman Dawe and secretary George Dudley, liaised with the Canadian Olympic Committee and gain approval for the choice.^[4]

After the Ottawa RCAF Flyers lost by a 7–0 score to the McGill University men's team, the Ottawa Citizen reported that multiple Canadian sports journalists called for a university team to represent Canada at the Olympics.^[2] When the RCAF team lost its next game by a 6–2 score to the Ottawa Canadian Army hockey team, Norman Dawe held an emergency meeting and committed to retaining the team's management and coach, Frank Boucher.^[2] Dawe also announced that the RCAF team would be bolstered from the best available players,^[5] and retain the RCAF identity after six civilian players were added from the .^[6] Dawe recruited defenceman Henri-André Laperrière from the Université de Montréal, in addition to two more players from Toronto recruited by George Dudley.^[7] The efforts to bolster the Ottawa RCAF Flyers resulted in the team winning every game at the Olympics and the gold medal.^[2]

Team members[]

1948 Ottawa RCAF Flyers

RCAF lapel pin

Players

The IOC lists that all players, including reserves, were given an Olympic Gold Medal.

Hubert Brooks, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba^[1] (reserve)
Murray Dowey, Toronto (goaltender)^[1]
Frank Dunster, Montreal (defenceman)^[1]
Roy Forbes, Vancouver (defenceman)^[1] (reserve)
Andy Gilpin, Montreal (forward)^[1]^[8] (reserve)
Jean Gravelle,^[1] Aylmer, Quebec
Patsy Guzzo,^[1] Ottawa
Wally Halder,^[1] Toronto
Ted Hibberd,^[1] Ottawa
Ross King, Portage la Prairie (goaltender)^[1]^[8] (reserve)
Henri-André Laperrière, Ottawa (defenceman)^[1]
John Lecompte, Ottawa, (defenceman)^[1]
Pete Leichnitz (reserve),^[1] Brechin, Ontario
George Mara,^[1] Toronto
Albert Renaud,^[1] Ottawa
Reginald Schroeter,^[1] Ottawa
Irving Taylor,^[1] Ottawa

Staff

Coach, Sgt. Frank Boucher, Ottawa, (nephew of Frank Boucher^[9]^[10])
Manager, S/L , Ottawa
Trainer, Cpl , Ottawa

Legacy[]

The book Gold Medal Misfits (Pat MacAdam, Manor House Publishing, 2008) chronicles the team's history with original articles from the area and interviews with surviving team members.

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r "Athletes Of The Century Chosen By The Military". Legion Magazine. 2001-01-01. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Koffman, Jack (April 7, 1948). "Olympic Hockey Team Is The Toast Of All Canada Today". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. p. 17.
^ "Canada Six May Miss Olympics". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. February 26, 1947. p. 17.
^ "Dawe C.A.H.A. Man At Olympic Meeting". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. December 4, 1947. p. 18.
^ "Will Bolster RCAF Six for Olympics". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. December 17, 1947. p. 16.
^ "Air Force Drops Six Players From Its Olympics-Bound Team". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. December 19, 1947. p. 19.
^ "3 New Players For Olympics". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. December 29, 1947. p. 1.
^ ^a ^b "The Hougen Group of Companies - A Yukon Tradition". Hougengroup.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
^ "Frank Boucher's Minor League Photograph Collection". Classicauctions.net. 2005-05-31. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
^ "History-1948 Winter". Tsn.ca. 1948-02-09. Retrieved 2010-07-13.

Bibliography[]

List of 1948 Canadian Olympic Medal Winners
GreatestHockeyLegends.com
McLauchlin, Les. "Good God, Olympic Gold!", The Airforce, Spring, 1998. Retrieved April 21, 2008
Iorfida, Chris. "Canada's quiet hockey heroes", CBC.ca, February 7, 2008.
The Life and Times of Hubert Brooks M.C. C.D. A Canadian Hero "R.C.A.F. Flyers at 1948 Olympics"
Royal Canadian Air Force: RCAF Flyers Wrote Olympic History Retrieved February 8, 2015

Preceded by Port Arthur Bearcats	Canada men's Olympic ice hockey team 1948	Succeeded by Edmonton Mercurys

[legionmagazine2001-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r "Athletes Of The Century Chosen By The Military". Legion Magazine. 2001-01-01. Retrieved 2010-07-03.

[Koffman-1948-2] Koffman, Jack (April 7, 1948). "Olympic Hockey Team Is The Toast Of All Canada Today". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. p. 17.

[3] "Canada Six May Miss Olympics". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. February 26, 1947. p. 17.

[4] "Dawe C.A.H.A. Man At Olympic Meeting". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. December 4, 1947. p. 18.

[5] "Will Bolster RCAF Six for Olympics". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. December 17, 1947. p. 16.

[6] "Air Force Drops Six Players From Its Olympics-Bound Team". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. December 19, 1947. p. 19.

[7] "3 New Players For Olympics". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. December 29, 1947. p. 1.

[hougengroup1948-8] "The Hougen Group of Companies - A Yukon Tradition". Hougengroup.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2010-07-03.

[9] "Frank Boucher's Minor League Photograph Collection". Classicauctions.net. 2005-05-31. Retrieved 2010-07-13.

[10] "History-1948 Winter". Tsn.ca. 1948-02-09. Retrieved 2010-07-13.

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