Clare James Drake (October 9, 1928 – May 13, 2018) was a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

coach. He was the most successful coach in

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Can ...

men's hockey history. In 28 years as the head coach of 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,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

men's ice hockey team, he coached the

Alberta Golden Bears The Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas are the sports teams that represent the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Alberta athletics teams have won a total of 93 national championships, including 79 U Sports sanctioned sports, making ...

to six University Cup championships and 17 Canada West conference championships. The "dean of coaching," Clare developed the game for more than 40 years, coaching at the high school, university, Olympic and WHA level. The only university coach to win a national championship in both hockey and football in the same year (1967), he was instrumental in the development of the National Coaching Certification and Coach Mentorship Programs. He was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

in 2017.

Biography

Drake was born in

Yorkton Yorkton is a city located in south-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is about 450 kilometres north-west of Winnipeg and 300 kilometres south-east of Saskatoon and is the sixth largest city in the province. As of 2017 the census population of the ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

on October 9, 1928, the only child of Clarence and Grace Drake. Drake played junior ice hockey in Regina, Saskatchewan and Medicine Hat, Alberta. He then went to the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, where he played ice hockey for the

UBC Thunderbirds The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thun ...

, and graduated in 1951. In 1953, Drake entered the

to earn his teaching credentials and play ice hockey; he graduated in 1954. Drake received a master's degree from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. He also pursued, but did not finish, a doctorate in education at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. After graduating from the University of Alberta, he played one season of professional ice hockey in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

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, then returned to teach physical education at Strathcona High School in Edmonton. For the next three years, he was the head of the department and assisted U of A head coach Don Smith. When Smith retired in 1958, Drake became the full-time coach of the Golden Bears. Under Drake, the Alberta Golden Bears won 17 western conference championships and six Canadian championships. He also served as assistant football coach for most of the 1960s and filled in as head football coach for three of those years. In 1967, Drake became the only coach to win the intercollegiate hockey and football championships in the same year. He retired in 1989 from head coaching with the North American intercollegiate record for career wins and an overall record of 697 wins, 296 losses and 37 ties, with a .695 win percentage. In 1990 the University's Varsity Arena was renamed the Clare Drake Arena in his honour. In 1975–76, Drake took a break from the Golden Bears to serve as the head coach of the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

of the WHA. He also coached Team Canada at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, and led Team Canada International to a gold medal at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland in 1983. He was an assistant coach for the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, pl ...

, consulted for several NHL teams and assisted the Canadian national women's team. In 2017, Drake was inducted into the

in the builder category. He died in Edmonton on May 13, 2018.

Awards and honours

*Named the CIAU Hockey Coach of the Year in 1975 and 1988 *Co-coach of the 1980 Canadian Men's Olympic team *Gold medal as Head coach of Team Canada at

Spengler Cup The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational ice hockey tournament held in Davos, Switzerland. First held in 1923, the Spengler Cup is often cited as the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by the Swiss tea ...

Tournament *Hockey Alberta Centennial Award *Order of Hockey in Canada

Order of Hockey in Canada The Order of Hockey in Canada is an award given out annually by Hockey Canada. It honours Canadian ice hockey players, coaches and executives and recognizes their contributions to the game. The first group of honourees was announced on April 10 ...

*University of Alberta Sports Wall of Fame (1987) *

Alberta Order of Excellence The Alberta Order of Excellence (french: Ordre d'excellence de l'Alberta) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Alberta. Instituted in 1979 when Lieutenant Governor Frank C. Lynch-Staunton granted royal assent to the Alberta ...

(2008) *

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canad ...

(1989) * Geoff Gowan Award for career achievement from the Coaching Association of Canada (2006) *

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

(2013) *Inducted into

in 2017 as a builder

Coaching record

Legacy

* Clare Drake Arena - University of Alberta * Clare Drake Award -

Rookie of the Year award

References

External links

University of Alberta official Clare Drake page
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120219050914/http://www.100years.ualberta.ca/achievements.cfm?profile=2 University of Alberta Centenary: Clare Drake
Edmonton Oilers Heritage: Clare Drake
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Clare 1928 births 2018 deaths Canada men's national ice hockey team coaches Canadian ice hockey coaches Edmonton Oilers coaches Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Members of the Alberta Order of Excellence Order of Hockey in Canada recipients Sportspeople from Yorkton University of British Columbia alumni Winnipeg Jets (1972–1996) coaches UBC Thunderbirds ice hockey players World Hockey Association coaches