Gordon Juckes

Gordon Wainwright Juckes was born in Watrous, Saskatchewan, on either June 20, or June 30, 1914, depending on the source.

He played hockey in Melville, Saskatchewan as a youth.

He quit hockey at age 18 when he did not make the local junior team as a right-winger.

He worked for the local Melville Advance newspaper as a printer, reporter, advertising salesman, and collections agent, and later became its publisher and owner.

Juckes enlisted in the Royal Canadian Artillery as a gunner in 1940, and was later promoted to the rank of major.

For his service during World War II, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on December 15, 1945.

He was also honoured with a Canadian Forces' Decoration.

Juckes returned to Saskatchewan after the war, serving as president of the Melville Millionaires hockey team from 1946 until 1948.

He was then elected president of the Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League, and joined the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association (SAHA) executive committee.

Juckes continued his work with the Melville Advance, and in 1951 was appointed Melville's civil defence officer.

Later in 1951, he became vice-president of the SAHA, and coordinated coaches' and referees's training programs.

He was elected president of the SAHA in 1953, and served until 1955.

Juckes joined the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) executive in 1955, serving as second vice-president until 1957.

In this role, he was also the chairman of minor ice hockey in Canada, and organized the first "Young Canada Hockey Week" held from February 4 to 11, 1957.

The event was supported by the CAHA and its affiliate branches, and served to promote participation in minor ice hockey with expanded newspaper, radio, television coverage.

The event gained recognition for Juckes' efforts in a letter from prime minister Louis St. Laurent.

Juckes served as first vice-president of the CAHA from 1957 to 1959.

During this time, he spoke before the American Hockey Coaches Association in an attempt to stop the unregulated recruitment of Canadian hockey players to American schools on scholarships, which prevented Canadians from keeping amateur status for international competitions, and depleted the rosters of Canadian teams during the season.

Juckes served as president of the CAHA for one year from 1959 to 1960, succeeding Robert Lebel.

He held talks with the Western Intercollegiate Hockey Association to curb further player recruitment, this time supported by Clarence Campbell of the National Hockey League.

Juckes was named secretary-manager of CAHA on May 24, 1960, after the death of George Dudley, becoming the first western Canadian to hold the post.

Changes were proposed to the constitution at the same time to give broader powers to the secretary-manager position, which was already considered the most powerful position within the CAHA.

The position was combined into a dual role with the registrar-treasurer position when W. A. Hewitt announced his planned retirement, and Juckes' expected salary was raised to $6,500 per year plus expenses.

Juckes became the CAHA's first full-time employee with the appointment.

Jack Roxburgh was named the new president of the CAHA on May 27 to fill the vacant position.

Juckes worked mostly by himself doing CAHA administration, with only a part-time secretary assisting with correspondence.

He was the CAHA delegate to the International Ice Hockey Federation from 1960 to 1977, and was an IIHF director from 1966 to 1972.

Juckes authored a report for the CAHA after Canada's 1960 Winter Olympics results, arguing for more coherence and continuity in its international representatives, as opposed to sending amateur club teams.

He supported giving financial assistance to teams representing Canada, instead of the clubs raising funds on their own for travel costs to international events.

In 1962, Father David Bauer made his proposal to start a Canadian national team in a meeting with Juckes and CAHA president Art Potter.

Juckes supported Bauer's proposal, and advocated it with the rest of the CAHA executive.

The dual roles of registrar-treasurer, and secretary-manager were formally combined into the title of executive director in 1968, which he held until 1977.

Juckes was the first full-time employee of the CAHA, and a key proponent for the early development of the Canada men's national ice hockey team and the 1972 Summit Series.

He worked to promote minor ice hockey and player safety in Canada, and his efforts with the IIHF established the IIHF World U20 Championship.

After 31 years as a hockey administrator, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

He was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and the IIHF Hall of Fame.

Gordon Wainwright Juckes (June 20 or 30, 1914 – October 4, 1994) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator.

He served as the president and later the executive director of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), and as a council member of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Juckes became involved in hockey as newspaper publisher and team president, then served as president of the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association.

During World War II he was a Major in the Royal Canadian Artillery, and was honoured with the Order of the British Empire.