Allan Ruggles Purvis (January 9, 1929 – August 13, 2009) was a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who played with the

Edmonton Mercurys The Edmonton Mercurys were a Canadian intermediate-level senior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, during the 1940s and 1950s. The team represented the Canada men's national ice hockey team twice, winning the 1950 World Ice Hocke ...

, a team which represented Canada and won a gold medal at the 1950 World Ice Hockey Championships and also won a gold medal at the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, were a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 1952 in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Discussions about Oslo hosting ...

. He later became owner of Waterloo Ford, a local car dealership that had been the sponsor of his medal-winning hockey team.

Biography

Purvis was born in Trochu, Alberta. He moved with his family to

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

and attended

Western Canada High School Western Canada High School is a public high school in Calgary, Alberta that has operated since 1929. The high school was antedated by Western Canada College, a boys' preparatory school in the style of a British public school that opened in 1903. ...

there.Gerein, Keith
"Al Purvis hockey leader, Edmonton automotive icon: Businessman earned Olympic gold"
''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'', August 16, 2009. Accessed August 17, 2009. He was invited to join the Edmonton Mercurys when he was 19 years old, having played junior hockey for the Calgary Buffaloes. The Mercurys were sponsored by Waterloo Mercury, a local car dealership whose owner hired some of the team's players to work for his firm.Cosentino, Frank
"Edmonton Mercurys"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

''. Accessed August 17, 2009. Purvis, a

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

, was the team's assistant captain. Though better known for his checking skills, Purvis was a goal scorer. The Mercurys won the Western Intermediate League championship and were selected to represent Canada at the 1950 World Ice Hockey Championships held in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, where the Mercurys took the gold, winning all seven games they played in the tournament and outscoring their opponents by a margin of 88–5. Two years later, the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; ) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction included senior ice hockey leagues and the Allan Cup, ...

selected the Mercurys from among seven teams that had applied to represent Canada at the 1952 Winter Olympics held in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, based on the strength of team's performance in the 1950 World Championships. Nine countries competed in

Ice hockey at the 1952 Winter Olympics The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, was the seventh Olympic Championship, also serving as the 19th World Championships and the 30th European Championships. The tournament was mainly played at the Jordal A ...

, with each team playing each other once. The Canadians played fast, tough hockey and won their first seven games by a margin of 68–11. The final game for the team was against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, who had lost one game to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, meaning that the Canadians would win the gold medal if they didn't lose their last game. After jumping out to a 2–0 lead, the Americans tied the score. Donald Gauf scored to give the Canadians the lead, but the U.S. tied it again at 3–3 with minutes left in the game. A potential game winner for the U.S. ricocheted off the goal post and preserved the gold medal for Canada. Canada would not win another gold medal for another 50 years, when it won at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. Following the Olympic victory, Purvis went back to the dealership. He worked his way up the ladder in his 50 years at the firm, becoming sales manager and later the company's owner and chief executive. After Purvis retired in 2002, he was succeeded at the dealership by his son. Purvis died at age 80 on August 13, 2009, at his home in the

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

area due to

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

. He had met his wife Jeanne while the two were in high school and they had two daughters and a son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Purvis, Allan 1929 births 2009 deaths Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Alberta Ice hockey players at the 1952 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic ice hockey players for Canada Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Kneehill County Western Canada High School alumni 20th-century Canadian sportsmen