Who are these mystery All-Stars?

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Submitted photo. A historic picture from 1933 of a team of hockey team that played on the Clear Lake ice, during the time of Relief Camp workers.

Submitted

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One sunny winter day back in 1933, 10 men stood on the ice at Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park, got their picture taken, then played and lost a couple of hockey games against the Intermediate hockey team from Dauphin. These men were part of the Riding Mountain Relief Camp All Stars, a group of hockey players from various camps around the lake who would play against teams from the surrounding communities. 

Canada’s national parks belong to all Canadians and Parks Canada protects and presents these treasures because they tell stories of who we are. Riding Mountain National Park was the only park at the time that had organized sports events for camp workers and on some Sundays, after church of course, a thousand people would gather around the boards to watch the games. Their goalie, Walter (Turk) Broda, from Brandon, would go on to win five Stanley Cups with the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

We’ve found two lists of names associated with the Riding Mountain All Stars, from games against Dauphin, but we only have the last names: Broda, Beatty, Galbraith, Porier, Osmack, Brodack, Pickup, Johnson, Dinsdale, and Parrott. Might they be the fellows in the photograph? 

We know two of the men played with the Elmwood Millionaires before coming to Clear Lake but we don’t know who they are. Maybe you recognize some of these family names. Maybe one of these men is a not so distant relative, a great uncle, your grandfather? Where did these men come from? What is their story? Maybe you’ve seen one of the N.P.C jerseys in someone’s rec room collection somewhere? 

As we near the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017, the Government of Canada invites Canadians to experience and learn more about our environment and our heritage. If you think you can help us identify any of these men or have a story to share, we’d really appreciate hearing from you. Please contact Fred Sheppard at 204-848-7256 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .