The Insider: Golden Memories
The Oil Kings are in the midst of a very grueling stretch in their schedule; playing 10 of 11 and 15 of their last 18 games away from Rogers Place. Thankfully there is light at the end of the tunnel as the team returns home on Sunday morning and will be able to spend a few quality days in Edmonton before playing in Calgary on Friday February 23rd. As they go through ups and down on the long trip, I thought it would be a good time to explore another story that has an Oil King connection.
The attention of the hockey world has turned to Pyeongchang, South Korea as the Olympic tournament is now underway. With National Hockey League players staying home this time around, there is a different level of intrigue for these games. Canada’s squad is made up of less familiar names than in the past, but should be a solid team that could surprise some in the field. While the players are not amateur athletes per se, this is the first time Canada will go for gold without the NHL stars in the fold since the 1994 Lilllehammer Games.
The last time Canada brought home the gold medal without the aid of the NHL players was in 1952, when the Edmonton Mercurys – an intermediate senior A team – won the tournament is Oslo, Norway. Things were a bit different back then, as the Mercs bid to represent Canada at the Games against seven other amateur teams and were chosen largely because they won the World Championship for Canada in 1950.
There is a major connection between that gold medal Mercury team and the modern day Edmonton Oil Kings: one of the goaltenders on that team was Ralph Hansch, the father of Oil King general manager Randy Hansch. Randy, like his dad, was a goaltender during his playing days. He played for the Victoria Cougars and Kamloops Blazers in the WHL, and was a draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 1984. He recently sat down with Guy Flaming and me to reminisce about his dad’s accomplishment in 1952.
“The Olympics were a special time for our family, with Dad participating.” Hansch reflected. “I think of the passion he had and how proud he was being a Canadian and winning. They were on a lengthy tour over there before the games. All these guys had jobs; Dad had to get permission from Mayor William Hawrelak and the fire department to have a year absence to make it work.”
Ralph had just gotten on with the Fire Department in Edmonton, and several of the players worked at Mercury Motors, the sponsor of the team. The Mercs spent seven weeks in Europe ahead of the Games, playing exhibition games in preparation. They won the inaugural Ahearne Cup in Sweden during the lead-up to Oslo.
Ralph Hansch wore the number ‘0’ on his sweater during his days as a goaltender, and that number has been banned for Olympic play. That didn’t stop Ralph from getting his desired number.
“Back then zero or one were the numbers for the goalies, and he always wore zero. At that time it was banned, he actually had to ask permission form the Olympic Committee to wear it. And, I believe, he’s the last goalie to wear the number zero at the Olympics.”
Shutout as your number seems pretty confident for a goaltender. It was a number that the younger Hansch hoped to wear at some point during his career to honour his father.
“I remember it was a number I was trying to get,” Hansch smiled. “You got some different looks when you go to your coaches asking if you can wear zero, it never worked out (for me). I think nowadays there might be a few more cheers from the crowd and comments if the visiting goalie wore zero.”
The attention to the Games might be lessened a bit due to the lack of the NHL players and the time change here in North America but for Randy Hansch, the Games still will hold a special place. “It’s a different level now than when the NHL players were there, but it’s still the Olympics and it’s your country. It’s exciting for our family, and for myself it really grabs my attention, I look forward to watching whenever I can.”