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Former Regina Pats player Todd Strueby remembers 1982 world junior tournament

CRAIG SLATER, Regina Leader-Post, December 22, 2011

REGINA — A Canadian television crew was nowhere to be found. Even the national anthem was missing.

But Canada had just won the gold medal at the 1982 World Junior Hockey Championship. Other than the few hundred spectators who watched the game live in Rochester, Minn., Canadians from coast to coast were oblivious to the outcome.

It sounds like a nightmare, but that was reality for Regina’s Todd Strueby and his teammates on that gold-medal-winning Canadian team of 30 years ago.

“There was no video broadcast at all. There was media coverage, but not at all what it’s like today,” Strueby said. “It has evolved into this huge event, and that’s great to see. I think everyone in Canada, especially hockey fans, has grown to love this tournament.”

This year, the world junior tournament will be hosted by Calgary and Edmonton. Strueby, along with every player who ever wore the maple leaf during a world junior tournament, has been invited to the event by Hockey Canada as part of the 30-year anniversary.

Over the past 30 years, the world junior hockey championship has certainly rose to the forefront among events in Canada. The tournament in ’82 marked the first year Canada, which used to be represented by club teams, was comprised of a collection of the best junior-aged players from across the country. It featured the likes of Strueby (then of the Saskatoon Blades), Regina Pats defenceman Garth Butcher, Mike Moller, Gord Kluzak and goaltender Mike Moffat. The latter three were named to the tournament all-star team that year. Pats general manager Bob Strumm doubled as the GM of the world junior team.

Minneapolis was the host site of the ’82 event, but games were also hosted in nearby Rochester and across Minnesota, as well as in Winnipeg and Kenora, Ont.

The arena in Rochester, where Canada and Czechoslovakia skated to a 3-3 tie, didn’t have O Canada on its playlist. Instead, the players lined up on the blue line and sang in unison. The arena also was devoid of television cameras. Canadians listened to a telephone feed of the final few minutes of that game during a Hockey Night in Canada telecast.

The tournament has seen obvious changes since then.

“For players, though, I don’t think the tournament has changed at all,” Strueby insisted. “We knew how big a deal it was, just like the players now do. We knew the impact it would have on us and on our country. As Canadians, we know how big of a deal it was, how intense it was. I don’t think that will ever change.”

The ’82 tournament didn’t have a playoff round. The eight teams played each other once. Canada and Czechoslovakia sat at the top of the standings with identical 5-0-1 records before they met in the final round-robin game, which was essentially the gold-medal final.

Regardless of the lack of hype that surrounded that game, and the fact it was played at a neutral site away from the host city, it was still a big deal for the Canadians.

“The rink was probably the same size as the Twin Arenas … just a little tin barn,” Strueby remembered. “But for us, it didn’t matter where we played or how many fans were there. This was the biggest game of our lives at that point. For some of us, it was the biggest game we would ever play in. It was such a huge event for us.”

Media coverage of the tournament has intensified over the years but, according to Strueby, the rivalries have remained.

“We didn’t hate the Russians, but there definitely was a huge rivalry with them back then. I think that’s still there,” he said. “Even though a lot has changed over the years … some of their (junior) players are playing here now, but it’s always a big game when you play Russia.”

Strueby, though, said the games in Calgary over the next couple of weeks will take a back seat to the socializing he plans to do with old friends and former teammates.

“I don’t care if I see one game while I’m there,” said Strueby, who played for the 1980-81 Pats before being dealt to Saskatoon. “I want to see some of my teammates. The hockey world will seem so small because everyone knows everyone. Even if I didn’t play with some of these guys, we all know each other in some way. We’re all a part of the same movement and that’s what makes this a special thing.”