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William Arnold Durnan, hockey player (b at Toronto 22 Jan 1915; d there 31 Oct 1972). He was the greatest goaltender of his day. Tall but quick, he had a rare ability to catch and block shots with either hand. He joined MONTREAL
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William Dickenson Hunter, "Bill," hockey coach, team owner and promoter (b at Saskatoon, 5 May 1920, d at Edmonton, 16 Dec. 2002).
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In 1867 he campaigned to have lacrosse accepted as Canada's national game. Though unsuccessful, his efforts helped raise the number of clubs from 6 to 80 that year, as did a national convention he organized in Kingston, Ontario.
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William “Hipple” Galloway, baseball player, hockey player, tinsmith (born 24 March 1882 in Buffalo, New York; died 17 February 1943 in Buffalo). Raised in Dunnville, Ontario, William Galloway became the first Black Canadian to play professional baseball when he started at third base for the Class-D Canadian League Woodstock Bains on 12 June 1899. He was also one of the first Black Canadians to play amateur hockey in Ontario. Galloway was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021.
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William J. "Torchy" Peden, cyclist (born 16 April 1906 in Victoria, BC; died 26 January 1980 in Chicago, Illinois). One of the greatest cyclists of his era, Peden was particularly successful on the six-day racing circuit in the 1930s. In his first four years of six-day racing, he won 24 of 48 races. In total, he won 38 of 148 races between 1929 and 1948, a record that stood until 1965. Peden was one of the top-paid athletes of the Depression era, alongside Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees. He is a member of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, BC Sports Hall of Fame, Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame.
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William Watson, "Whipper Billy," professional wrestler (b at Toronto 25 June 1915; d at Orlando, Fla 4 Feb 1990). It is claimed that he won 99% of his 6300 matches during a 30-year career. He was popular in the Toronto area and frequently drew capacity crowds.
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William T. (Willie) deWit, boxer, lawyer, judge (born 13 June 1961 in Three Hills, AB).
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Willie O’Ree, CM, ONB, hockey player (born 15 October 1935 in Fredericton, NB). On 18 January 1958, Willie O’Ree became the first Black hockey player to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played professional hockey for more than 20 years, including 45 games with the Boston Bruins. Since 1998, O’Ree has been the NHL’s Director of Youth Development and ambassador for NHL Diversity. He is a Member of both the Order of Canada and the Order of New Brunswick. He has been inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame, the Hockey Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. The Boston Bruins retired O’Ree’s No. 22 on 18 January 2022, the 64th anniversary of his first NHL game.
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Jacob Wilton (Willie) Littlechild, CC, AOE, athlete, lawyer, Cree chief, politician, advocate for Indigenous rights (born 1 April 1944 in Hobbema, [now Maskwacîs] AB). Littlechild formed and coached Alberta’s first all-Indigenous junior hockey team and created the National Indian Athletic Association. He is a member of seven sports halls of fame. In 1976, Littlechild earned a law degree from the University of Alberta. He went on to become the first member of Parliament with Treaty Indian Status in Canada in 1988. Littlechild served as a commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2009. Throughout his career, Littlechild has promoted Indigenous rights both nationally and internationally.
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Winnie Roach-Leuszler, swimmer (born 3 February 1926 in Port Credit, ON; died 1 May 2004 in Surrey, BC). Winnie Roach-Leuszler was a successful marathon swimmer. In 1951, after serving with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps during the Second World War, she became the first Canadian to swim the English Channel. She also won the French long-distance championship in 1962. A recipient of the Order of Ontario, Roach-Leuszler was inducted into the Canadian Forces Sports Hall of Fame, the Ontario Aquatic Hall of Fame and the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame.
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Year Host Canadian Team Home Province Record Gold Medal Game 1959 Falkirk and Edinburgh, Scotland Ernie Richardson Arnold Richardson Garnet Richardson Wes Richardson Saskatchewan 5–0 N/A 1960 Falkirk and Edinburgh, Scotland Ernie Richardson Arnold Richardson Garnet Richardson Wes Richardson Saskatchewan 5–0 N/A 1961 Ayr, Falkirk, Perth and Edinburgh, Scotland Hector Gervais Ray Werner Vic Raymer Wally Ursuliak Alberta 4–2 Canada 12 Scotland 7 1962 Falkirk and Edinburgh, Scotland Ernie Richardson Arnold Richardson Garnet Richardson Wes...
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Year Host Canadian Team Home Province Record Gold Medal Game 1980 Perth, Scotland Marj Mitchell Nancy Kerr Shirley McKendry Wendy Leach Saskatchewan 10–1 Canada 7 Sweden 6 (11 ends) 1984 Perth, Scotland Connie Laliberte Christine More Corinne Peters Janet Arnott Manitoba 10–1 Canada 10 Switzerland 0 1985 Jönköping, Sweden Linda Moore Lindsay Sparkes Debbie Jones Laurie Carney British Columbia 9–2 Canada 5 Scotland 2 1986 Kelowna, BC Marilyn Bodogh-Darte Kathy McEdwards Christine Bodogh-Jurgenson Jan Augustyn...
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Macleans
This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on February 1, 1999. Partner content is not updated. Hockey fans have long since become accustomed to the mercenary nature of modern professional sports: players whose seven-figure salaries are not enough to anchor them to a team or a town, and even teams themselves that abandon those towns for newer arenas and sweet tax concessions elsewhere.
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Yvon Durelle (the Fighting Fisherman), boxer (born 14 October 1929 in Baie-Sainte-Anne, NB; died 6 January 2007 in Moncton, NB). Yvon Durelle was an Acadian boxer. A heavy-handed power puncher, Durelle was Canadian middleweight champion (1953) and light heavyweight champion (1953–57); as well as British Empire light heavyweight champion (1957). In 1958, he earned international fame for a legendary 11-round slugfest against defending world champion Archie Moore at the Forum in Montreal. Durelle had a career record of 88 wins (49 by knockout), 24 losses and two draws. He was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame, the Maritime Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame. He died at 77 following a years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
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