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PROFILE:
Father David Bauer (1924-1988),
HHOF in Toronto (1989, builders category),
IIHF Hall of Fame (1997, builders category).
Career Highlights:
- Played LW for St. Michaels College 1941-43 and
Oshawa Generals 1943-44;
- Won the Memorial Cup 1944 as a player with Oshawa
and in 1961 as a coach with St. Mike's College;
- Began building a National Team in 1961
- Coached Canada in the 1964 Olympics;
- GM for Canada in the Olympics'68 and the WCs in
'65, '66, '67 and '69;
- Won Olympic bronze (GM) in '68 and WC bronze in
'66 and '67 (GM)
- Managing Director of Team Canada at the Olympics'80
- Named as Vice-President of Hockey Canada and chairman
of the Olympic Program in 1981;
- The Father Bauer Arena in Calgary, Alberta has
been named as recognition of Father David Bauer
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Father David Bauer and the Canadian
National Team
by Craig Wallace, Guest Writer
When the history of Canadian teams in International Hockey
is discussed one name that is always at the forefront
of any such discussion is that of Father David BAUER.
David Bauer (brother of Boston Bruin star Bobby Bauer)
was perhaps the finest junior hockey player in Canada
in the late 40’s and had a bright future ahead of him
in the National Hockey League (NHL). Before he could enter
the professional hockey ranks he stunned the hockey establishment
by accepting a calling into the Roman Catholic priesthood.
He was ordained in the Basilian order and began teaching
at St. Michael’s College in Toronto. He still had a love
for hockey and coached the junior A St. Michaels Majors,
winning one Memorial Cup. While coaching St. Mikes’ Father
Dave clearly stood out from other junior coaches as Scott
Young in his 1976 book "War On Ice" describes:
"While most junior coaches never
let education get in the way of hockey if they could avoid
it, Father Bauer carried five or six extra players so
that any in need of extra study could skip a game or two.
He also had the quaint (for hockey) notion that a player
could be rugged without being dirty, and that mental discipline
and development of the mind were as important as physical
development and hockey skills. Even more galling to old-style
hockey men was that much of the time his teams could beat
their teams."
In 1962 Father Dave transferred to St. Marks College
at the University of British Columbia. Along with his
teaching duties there, he took over the head coaching
position of the struggling varsity hockey team. In his
first year of coaching the Thunderbirds he took them to
the CIAU final where they lost a bitterly contested final
to McMaster University.
Father Dave then made headlines around Canada with his
proposal to create a "National Hockey Team"
to represent Canada internationally with him as head coach.
At this time the World Hockey Championships and Olympics
were open only to amateur players. This meant Canada’s
best players, their NHL professionals, were not allowed
to compete in these events. Traditionally Senior A or
Senior B "club" teams represented Canada. Up
until 1954 these teams were able to easily defeat most
opponents they faced in International competition. This
changed however in 1954 when the Soviet Union entered
the World Championships for the first time. They met Canada’s
representative, a Senior B team known as the East York
Lyndhurts for the Gold Medal. The result, a 7-2 thrashing
of the Lyndhursts, sent shock waves through Canada. After
that Canada sent only their best Senior A team to represent
them but by 1963, these teams were being beaten on a regular
basis by the Soviet, and Czechoslovakian National teams.
Clearly Canada had to do something different. Father Dave
proposed that the finest Canadian junior and college players
be given the task of representing their nation. While
they could not be paid (they had to be amateur to compete
internationally) he said "let’s offer these players
room, board, and tuition at the University of British
Columbia". They would be given the opportunity to
get a free education, and while there they would form
the Canadian National Team, which would become known as
the "Nats."
Father Dave had always been disturbed by the prevailing
opinion that a player had to sacrifice their education
to advance in hockey. At this time players were encouraged
by the hockey establishment to quit school so they could
focus only on hockey. He felt a young person should be
able to get a top education and still play high quality
hockey. He was also deeply concerned about the image Canadian
hockey players around the world. Many of the Senior A
teams Canada had sent had used brutal, and often violent
tactics to win. The European press and fans routinely
referred to Canadian players as "thugs" and
"animals". Father Dave was determined to change
that. The first thing he did was to be very selective
in his recruiting for the team. Scott Young described
what Father Bauer looked for.
"Only agile, fast players could stay
with the remarkable skaters the European teams were turning
out. He wanted hockey skills, of course, but also the
kind of player who would be prepared to discipline himself
more than he’d ever been asked to do in Canadian hockey.
He felt, accurately, that the days when Canadian teams
could take beaucoup penalties, play short-handed most
of the game, and still win, were long gone."
In his first practice with the "Nats" he told
the players "we will play to win, but not at any
price." He told them that part of representing
Canada internationally, was to provide a good image of
the nation. That would be done by playing, clean, skillful,
yet aggressive hockey. During the many practices and exhibition
games the "Nats" played he drilled into them
the need to not take penalties, and to forget all the
violent tactics they had been taught by their previous
coaches. He told his players that if they won using the
same brutal, violent, methods Canadian teams had employed
in the past, then they would leave Canada’s image tarnished
before the world, and have accomplished nothing worthwhile.
Needless to say NHL teams were not eager to allow their
prospects to play for Father Dave. His idea that a player
could get a university education (thus bypassing the Junior
A ranks and focus on something other then strictly hockey)
and play clean, skillful hockey while still hitting and
being aggressive without violence, went against everything
NHL teams believed. This reluctance on the part of NHL
teams to allow their player to play for Father Dave had
a huge negative impact on the talent available for the
"Nats."
The first test for the "Nats" would be the
1964 Innsbruck Olympics. There the "Nats" played
inspired hockey. They exhibited a high level of skill
and sportsmanship rarely seen in previous Canadian entries
in International events. European fans were amazed to
see Canadian players who didn’t fight, or scream at the
officials. Many fans and members of the media were also
surprised at the sight of Father Dave wearing his clerical
collar standing behind the Canadian bench. Who had ever
seen a priest coaching a hockey team?
Father Dave’s game plans on how to defeat the top European
teams were well thought out and executed, and his players
"played their hearts" out. The "Nats"
were able to defeat every opponent they faced with the
exception of the Soviets and Czechs. They were good enough
to push those two teams to play their best, and when that
happened the superior Soviet and Czech talent was the
difference. They finished the Olympic tournament with
a record of 5 wins and 2 defeats. The defeats came at
the hands of the Soviet and Czech National teams in bitterly
fought games that were in doubt to the final buzzer. A
bizarre tie-breaking system which was implemented at the
"last minute" cost Canada a medal leaving the
"Nats" and Father Dave very bitter at the International
Ice Hockey Federation.
After the tournament Father Dave was given an award for
the exhibiting the highest level of sportsmanship in the
Olympics. That came about during the Canada/Sweden game.
Scott Young who witnessed the incident described it as
follows:
"Late in the game, Sweden’s Carl Oberg
broke his stick during action on the ice – and flung the
broken end towards the Canadian bench. It hit Father Bauer
on the face. Bleeding, he held back his enraged players
and not only calmed them down, but kept two or three of
the most furious on the bench for the last few minutes
of the game fearing they would go out looking for blood."
After their impressive showing in Innsbruck there was
high hopes for the future of the "Nats." But
things would never again be as bright. Father Dave gave
up the coaching duties with the Nats to focus more on
his teaching and clerical responsibilities at UBC. He
did however act as the "Nats" General Manager
doing an often brilliant job of recruiting talent in the
face of strong NHL opposition. The NHL though denied the
"Nats" such players as Bobby Orr, Serge Savard,
Dennis Hull, Yvon Cournoyer etc. Despite that, such future
NHL and WHA stars as Ken Dryden, Brian Conacher, Bob Murdoch,
Fran Huck, Terry Caffery, Brian Glennie, and Wayne Stephenson
among others all played for the "Nats."
The best the "Nats" were able to do were Bronze
medals in the 1966 World Championships and 1968 Olympics
as well a huge upset of the Soviet National Team at the
1967 Centennial Tournament played in Winnipeg. They never
did as well on the ice as they had hoped however the "Nats"
did in fact reinforce the belief of Father Dave, that
young Canadian hockey players didn’t have to quit school
to play great hockey and Canadians were capable of playing
highly skilled hockey that made their country proud, without
resorting to violence. The team was folded in 1970 after
the Canadian government announced that Canada was withdrawing
from all International hockey until they could use professional
players.
After the "Nats" folded Father Dave went on
to assist Japan with the reorganization of their national
hockey team. In 1980 Canada returned to Olympic hockey
for the first time since 1968 and Father Dave was a key
figure in the organization of the Canadian Olympic team
that competed at Lake Placid.
Father David Bauer died in 1988 however his legacy lives
on at the arena named for him in Calgary, Alberta and
in the hearts of Canadian hockey fans everywhere.
Craig Wallace lives in Toronto,
Canada.
He has had a life long interest in Father David Bauer
and the "Nats" and the Canadian Football Leagues' Toronto
Argonauts. He is a free lance writer for the CFL and
the author of the soon to be published book "A Slip
in the Rain, The Toronto Argonauts and the Fumble into
Oblivion."
Craig can be reached at argos@sprint.ca
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