Ross Hartford King (February 19, 1919 – June 6, 1972) was a Canadian ice hockey goaltender. He was a member of the Ottawa RCAF Flyers who won the gold medal in ice hockey for Canada at the 1948 Winter Olympics in

St. Moritz St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...

. King was a star goaltender with the Portage la Prairie Terriers when they won the Memorial Cup in 1942.The Hougen Group of Companies - A Yukon Tradition
/ref> King joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and in March 1947 he was transferred to the RCAF station in the “hockey crazy” town of Whitehorse, Yukon. 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 ...

were to be held in

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 ...

. They were then officially known as the

V Olympic Winter Games 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 ...

as they were the first Olympic games to be celebrated after World War II. In the fall of 1947, the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction include ...

invited the RCAF to form Canada’s Olympic ice hockey squad; and in January of 1948 King was selected to be a member of

Canada men's national ice hockey team The Canada men's national ice hockey team (popularly known as Team Canada; french: Équipe Canada) is the ice hockey team representing Canada inter ...

, the Ottawa RCAF Flyers. Although King traveled to St. Moritz as a member of Canada national hockey team, due to tournament rules that allowed teams to dress only twelve players, King was a used as a reserve and did not get into game play during the 1948 Olympics. Nonetheless, King was a member of the team that won Canada’s first gold medal in Olympic hockey since 1932, and he was given an Olympic Gold Medal. After the Olympic Games, the Ottawa RCAF Flyers went on an extensive exhibition tour of Europe, playing in front of crowds reaching 20,000 (as they did in Paris). King became the regular goalie during the post-Olympics exhibition tour, and the RCAF Flyers won 31 of the 42 games played. Upon returning to Canada with a gold medal around his neck, King and the other team members were greeted with a ticker-tape parade in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. During the 1948-49 season King played for the RCAF Flyers in the Whitehorse Senior Men’s League. Eventually King returned to Portage la Prairie where he settled with his wife Joyce and two children, David and Janet. He died in 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Ross 1919 births 1972 deaths Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey players at the 1948 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic ice hockey players of Canada Sportspeople from Portage la Prairie Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II Ice hockey people from Manitoba