Hockey Vikings reach ACAC Hall of Fame
The Camrose Lutheran College Vikings hockey team competed in the ACAC, which is a collegiate sports league in Alberta, comprising various colleges and universities.
The team consisted of student-athletes from Camrose Lutheran College (now known as University of Alberta Augustana Campus).
Participating in collegiate hockey not only provides athletes with opportunities for competition, but also fosters camaraderie among teammates and promotes the development of skills both on and off the ice.
In 1974-75, the Vikings hockey team made up of future farmers, teachers and pastors out of a school of 390 students won the first Canadian Colleges Athletic Association hockey championships in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
The win on the national stage paved the way for a season played in Europe, and then the inaugural 1981 Viking Cup hockey tournament in Camrose. The small, rural Alberta community hosted teams from across the United States and Europe for 25 years until its final medal ceremony in 2006.
The team made history. In 2009, the 1974-75 Vikings were inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame.
Players included Rodney Lee, Tom Gould, Larry Stuart, Russ Shandro, Lee Cumberland, Phil Irwin, Joe Miller, Daryl Runka, Pete Hanson, Bob Large, Harley Johnson, Lynn Getz, Dennis Dunn, Morley Dunlop, John Danko, Sven Green, Elston Solberg, Don Boyce, Gary Fortier, Ken Alackson and captain Bill Andreassen.
Joe Voytechek was the coach with LeRoy Johnson the manager, Dennis Becker equipment manager, Karl Faltin trainer and Jim Voytechek stick boy.
Augustana Athletics Hall of Fame already honoured the team several years ago.
The campus with an enrollment of 390 at the time, fielded a hockey team that would exceed expectations and change a community.
The 1974-75 Camrose Lutheran College Vikings were the first team in any sport from across the nation to win a CCAA national championship and the first team in any sport from Camrose to win a national championship.
The team dominated the opposition setting twelve team records and nine 4-West Championship records. In the regular season and post season, the team posted a winning percentage of .864 and an average scoring margin per game of 4.55 goals.
They won the nationals hosted by St. Clair College Saints College of Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia.
The 1974-75 Vikings set the tone for those that followed. The team’s ability to bring the community together manifested itself in a tradition of hosting national and international sporting events in various sports for decades to come.
The team’s impact goes beyond the Vikings hockey program and the Viking Cup. The Camrose Sports Development Society and the Edgeworth Centre were the fruit of the seeds sown by the 1974-75 Vikings. For decades, Camrose was synonymous with international hockey at home and abroad due in part to the 1974-75 Vikings.
On May 10, in Red Deer the 1974-75 Vikings enter the ACAC Hall of Fame. The architects of the team, general manager LeRoy Johnson and coach Joe Voytechek were inducted in 2014 and 2017 respectively.