Murray Albert Dowey (January 3, 1926 – May 26, 2021), was a Canadian ice hockey

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

. Nicknamed "Fast Hands", he was a member of the Ottawa RCAF Flyers, which won the gold medal in ice hockey representing Canada at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948 (; ), were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the ...

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

Early life

Dowey was born in eastern

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. His father, Albert, was Irish Canadian; his mother, Winifred, was of English descent. Dowey served in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

for two years, and played for Barkers Hockey Club of the Toronto Mercantile League. He was later presented with the opportunity to be the practice

for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

, but did not sign after being unable to agree to terms with the owner of the

Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies are owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

(the Leafs' minor league affiliate). He worked as a clerk and typist for the

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...

(TTC) at the time he was recruited to the national hockey team for the

1948 Winter Olympics

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, ...

declined to send a team to the 1948 Olympics, in protest of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

regulation that only

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

players could participate in the Games (thus ruling out those who received remuneration for playing hockey). However, Sandy Watson, a squadron leader and medical officer for the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF), decided to assemble a team nonetheless under the Ottawa RCAF Flyers banner. Dowey became the final player added to the Olympic roster. The original starting goalie, Dick Ball, failed a medical exam just two days before the team was to depart for the tournament. Two other players who made the team – Wally Halder and George Mara – had been teammates with Dowey in the Mercantile League. They consequently recommended Dowey to the Flyers officials. Dowey recorded five

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in the eight games he played in, to go along with a 0.62

goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

. Both numbers remained Olympic records at the time of his death. He conceded only one goal apiece against

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 ...

and

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, with the three goals by 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 ...

the most goals he allowed in one game during the tournament.

Later life

After the Olympic Games and several

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

s, Dowey went back to his job with the TTC. He retired from the TTC in 1986, having worked there for 44 years. He was honoured by the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

in 2001 when it was announced that the 1948 RCAF Flyers were selected as Canada's greatest military athletes of the 20th century. He was selected as one of the torchbearers for the Toronto stretch of the 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay in December 2009. He was subsequently inducted into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame the following year. Dowey was interviewed in-depth for a documentary on the Flyers in 2015, as well as a book in the autumn of 2020, both called ''Against All Odds''. He spent his final years at a retirement home in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

. Dowey died on May 26, 2021, in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He was 95, and was the last surviving member of the Flyers' 1948 Olympic team.

Career statistics

International

Bolded numbers indicate tournament leader Sources:

References

External links

*
Murray Dowey's profile at databaseOlympics.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowey, Murray 1926 births 2021 deaths Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey people from Toronto Ice hockey players at the 1948 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic ice hockey players for Canada Olympic medalists in ice hockey 20th-century Canadian sportsmen