Edwin Zemrau was a Canadian ice hockey

defenseman 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 ...

and executive who captained

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to its first

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

Career

Zemrau came to the attention of Neil Celley while playing for the Lethbridge Native Sons and moved south to begin attending Denver University in the fall of 1954. Zemrau joined the varsity squad in 1955 and the Pioneers produced moderate results but towards the end of the year head coach Celley kicked four players off of the team for violating rules. Celley resigned shortly thereafter and Denver had to find a new leader for the ice hockey program. In 1956 former NHLer Murray Armstrong took over and stabilized the program, though the team's record didn't reflect any improvement. For his senior season Zemrau was named team captain and with Armstrong's first recruiting class beginning play, everything seemed to align for the Pioneers. Denver jumped from 12 to 22 wins in the regular season, doubling their conference win total and going from 5th in the

WIHL The Western International Hockey League (WIHL) was a senior hockey, senior level ice hockey league that featured teams from the Western United States and Western Canada. It operated from 1946–62 and 1963–88. It grew out of the West Kootena ...

to 1st (tied), winning the program's first conference championship. The huge improvement earned Zemrau a spot on both the All-WIHL First Team and the AHCA All-American West Team The championship earned Denver its first NCAA tournament bid as well and the team performed beautifully. In the semifinal the Pioneers dominated Clarkson 6–2 to advance to the championship game and face down co-WIHL champion

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. The Fighting Sioux scored first, and held a one-goal lead at the end of the first but the defensive work done by Zemrau and others prevented North Dakota from building on their early lead. In the second period Denver's offense came alive for a 3-goal burst in under four minutes. Zemrau assisted on the third marker and then continued to hold back their opponents until the beginning of the third. UND cut the lead to one but Zemrau helped ensure that he assisted on the game-winner and The further goals from the Pioneers put the match out of reach, earning Denver the national championship. After graduating, Zemrau continued his hockey career. He played for the

Winnipeg Warriors The Winnipeg Warriors were a junior ice hockey team that played in the Western Hockey League. They were founded as an expansion team in 1980, but suffered from attendance problems competing with the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League and ...

, a minor-pro outfit that saw several members reach the NHL, in parts of three seasons as well as the

Sault Thunderbirds The Sault Thunderbirds were a professional ice hockey team in the Eastern Professional Hockey League from 1959 to 1962. The Thunderbirds were based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and played at the Sault Memorial Gardens. Players Hockey Hall of ...

. In 1960 he moved to Alberta and became the assistant dean of

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. While working for the college he continued playing, appearing for the

Lacombe Rockets Lacombe may refer to: Places * Lacombe, Alberta, Canada * Lacombe County, Alberta, Canada * Lacombe, Louisiana, United States * Lacombe, Aude, France * Lacombe (provincial electoral district), Canada * Lacombe (territorial electoral district), Cana ...

for three years, before finally hanging up his skates when he was appointed as the first

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

for the University. Zemrau was the AD at Alberta for 18 years and he became a figure in national athletics when he served as chairman of the Canadian University Centennial Project in 1967. He received the Canadian Centennial Medal for his contributions and served in several executive bodies over the next 20 years, becoming president of Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (now called

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

) in 1977. After being named as the Edmonton Sportsman of the Year in 1984 Zemrau returned to Alberta and was a faculty professor from 1985 until his retirement. He remained active in national university sports in later life, serving as the first Vice President for the International Federation of University Sport from 1994 to 2003 and was on the board of directors for both the World Track and Field Championships and the World University Wrestling Championships. Zamrau was a member of the board of directors for the Calgary bid committee for the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Personal

Ed Zemrau died from cancer at the age of 78. Shortly after Ed's death he was inducted into the Denver Athletic Hall of Fame.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zemrau, Ed 1933 births 2012 deaths Deaths from cancer Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Edmonton Lethbridge Native Sons players Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Winnipeg Warriors (minor pro) players Sault Thunderbirds players Lacombe Rockets players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans 20th-century Canadian sportsmen