1952 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALISTS - EDMONTON MERCURYS

1952 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES
OSLO, NOR

History would show that the gold medal won by the Edmonton Mercurys was the last for Canada for half a century. In between, there were many victories, gold medals, and great moments, but Olympic gold was a term not uttered again until 2002. The Mercs were established by Jim Christianson of Edmonton, who ran a car dealership which sold a line of Mercurys. He financed the team, travelled with it and saw it win gold, but passed away soon after he returned home to Alberta. The Mercs were chosen for the Olympics because they were a purely amateur team at a time when the CAHA was having difficulty trying to find a “pure” team. Not a single player from this team played in the NHL, confirming that although Canada wasn’t winning gold as easily as it had, it was still able to do so with a team that was nowhere near in calibre to the NHL’s Original Six stocked with Canadian pros.