David Manning
David Manning coached in Red Deer from 1974-85, leading the Red Deer Major Midget team to five Alberta Major Midget Championship titles and the inaugural Mac’s tournament in Calgary (1978-79). David served as a director on the Board of the Red Deer Athletic Association for 10 years, including as President for four years. He provided legal counsel to Hockey Alberta for 25 years, and the Alberta Junior Hockey League for 10 years.
In 1992, he received the Red Deer Sportsman of the Year Award, and was a member of the World Junior Championship Host Committee that brought the tournament to Red Deer in 1995.
Red Deer College Kings (1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80)
The Red Deer College Kings lived up their nickname, as the “kings” of the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association. RDC captured three gold medals during a run of four consecutive appearances at the CCAA national championships.
The Kings were the first team in the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC) to finish first in the regular season for five consecutive seasons. They also won three Four West and three ACAC titles, and were the first team to win back to back national titles. In regular season and post season action over the three championship years, the Kings record was 78-15-2 for a winning percentage of 0.830.
University of Alberta Pandas (1999-2000)
The 1999-2000 University of Alberta Pandas were the first Western Canadian team to win the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) national championship. The team had five players in the top scorers for the CIAU, with goaltender Stacey McCullough and CIAU Rookie of the Year Danielle Bourgeois also named to the CIAU All-Canadian Team.
The team remembers the semi-final game against the host Concordia Stingers as the “unofficial” championship, as the Pandas won in a shootout, with captain Sue Huculak scoring the winning goal. In the final, they defeated the McGill Marlets 2-0.
Roger Bourbonnais
Roger Bourbannais represented Canada at two Winter Olympics, and several World Championships as a player. He started with the Edmonton Oil Kings (1960-63), winning the Memorial Cup in 1963. He joined the freshly founded Canadian National Hockey Team and travelled to the 1964 Winter Olympics in Austria, finishing fourth. Roger also represented Canada at the 1965, 1966 and 1967 IIHF World Championships capturing two bronze medals.
In 1968, he once again represented Canada in the Winter Olympics in France, scoring four goals in seven games to finish with a bronze medal. Roger was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1999.
Loretta Normandeau
Loretta Normandeau contributed over 20 years of service to female hockey and athlete development. She was on Hockey Alberta’s Female Council for 16 years (1984-2000); an instructor for Hockey Alberta development programs; involved with the Alberta Winter Games; Team Alberta’s assistant coach at the 1991 Canada Winter Games (gold medal); and Director of Operations for the 1999 Canada Winter Games team (bronze medal). She continued as a coach mentor with the U18 program, and put in countless hours with the U18 regional and provincial camps. Loretta also held positions with the Western Women’s Hockey League, National Women’s League, Edmonton Chimos, and Edmonton Capitals.
Leo Wurtz
In his 30-year career, Leo Wurtz officiated in 3,500 games including several international assignments. In addition to officiating, he assigned thousands of hockey games each winter for as many as 12 different junior and senior leagues plus Lloydminster Minor Hockey. Leo was a school teacher who recruited, promoted and mentored young officials.
In 1987, Leo was presented with the Northeast Referee Zone Award in 1987, the Hockey Alberta Ernie Boruk Award in 1990, and when he retired in 1990, the Northeast Zone created the Leo Wurtz award, for recognition of outstanding dedication and commitment to officiating.
Northlands
Northlands has left a lasting mark on hockey history in Alberta. They were responsible for the first large spectator indoor rink in Edmonton in 1913, the 5,200 seat Gardens which hosted the Flyers, Eskimos, Dominions, Oil Kings and the World Hockey Association Oilers.
Northlands Coliseum opened in 1974, hosting Canada Cup Games in 1981 and donating the net proceeds to Hockey Alberta which helped form the Hockey Alberta Foundation’s scholarship program. Northlands was the title sponsor and host for the Alberta Cup’s first three years, starting in 1986. Northlands also housed the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame from 1982-92.
