John Gerald Davey (September 5, 1914 – February 12, 1977) was a Canadian-born British

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 ...

player who played in the

English National League The English National League was an early ice hockey league in England. It was founded in 1935 by most of the teams who had previously competed in the English League. It was suspended during the Second World War World War II or t ...

(ENL). He also played for the British national team that won the gold medal at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

(see

Ice hockey at the 1936 Winter Olympics The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, was the fifth Olympic Championship, also serving as the tenth World Championships and the 21st European Championships. The British national ice h ...

). He is a member of the

British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame The British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1948 and is the third oldest ice hockey Hall of Fame in the world, behind the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame (also founded in 1948) and the International Hockey Hall of Fame (founded in 19 ...

Career

Born in

Port Arthur, Ontario Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Superior. In January 1970, it amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay. Port Arthur had been the district seat of ...

, Davey learned to play ice hockey with the Elmwood Midgets.

Club

When he was 16 years old, Davey's mother left with him to England in 1931. He got a place with the

Princes A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in some Euro ...

club playing in the English League with the help of a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

newspaper. After a short time with

ZSC Lions The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions (ZSC Lions) are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and playe ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, he returned to the UK to play with

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

in 1933 before eventually moving on to play with the Falkirk Lions in the Scottish National League between 1938 and 1940, whom he also coached in 1938–39. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Davey joined the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

continuing to play ice hockey in the Toronto Services League. After the war in 1946, Davey returned to Streatham where he took up playing in

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

having previously played

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

. Davey then moved the

Wembley Lions The Wembley Lions were an English ice hockey team. History The team were founded in 1934 but showed a continuity with the London Lions team which had played at various venues since 1924. The Wembley team were based at the newly built Empire ...

the following year for the 1947–48 season. Davey then turned his hand to refereeing before returning to playing for a brief spell during the 1949–50 season with the Streatham Royals in the Intermediate League.

International

After arriving in England, Davey made an immediate impact with the Princes club and was selected to play for the GB national team in the 1932

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

held in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. The team finished the tournament in seventh position with Davey scoring seven of the team's eleven goals. Davey went on to play for the GB national team at all the international tournaments between 1932 and 1939, most notably the team which took part in the 1936 Winter Olympics. Having fallen ill, Davey came back from his sick bed to score 40 seconds into the game against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

— which GB won 2–1 — helping the team along the way to securing the gold medal. Davey also helped the GB team to a bronze medal in the 1935

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, which also earned a silver medal in the European Championships, and a silver medal in the 1937 and 1938 World Championships. Following World War II, Davey again represented GB at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

when they finished in sixth place. Davey scored a total of forty-three goals for the GB national team, a record which still stands.

Awards

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medalist in 1936. *

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

silver medalist in 1937 and 1938. * European Championship gold medalist in 1937.

Records

*Most goals scored for the GB national team with 43.

Honours

*Inducted to the

in 1949.

References

External links

*
Ice Hockey Journalists UK

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davey, Gerry 1914 births 1977 deaths British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Canadian military personnel of World War II English ice hockey right wingers Ice hockey players at the 1936 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1948 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic ice hockey players for Great Britain Olympic medalists in ice hockey Ice hockey people from Thunder Bay Wembley Lions players ZSC Lions players