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Mollers cherish world junior memories:
Before the Brothers Hamilton, Albertans were last siblings to star for Team Canada

George Johnson, Postmedia News, December 15, 2011

CALGARY — O Brother, Where Are Thou?

Why, for the first time in three decades, right there, shoulder-to-shoulder, going for gold.

“Great on the Hamilton boys, just great for the family,’’ Mike Moller is saying from his home in Red Deer, Alta. “To have two boys on the same team, representing the country, you can’t get a much prouder moment.

“So, congratulations. It’s quite an accomplishment.

“Hey, the distinction of being the only Canadian brothers to play together in a world juniors for so long was nice. But you’ve just go to tip your hat to these two kids.

Back in 1982, Mike Moller and his brother Randy had no inkling they’d be a part of sibling hockey history that would stand the test of time. Until Wednesday, that is, when Freddie and Dougie Hamilton officially survived coach Don Hay’s final trimming to 22 for Canada’s national junior team.

“Actually, I am a little bit surprised by that,’’ admits Randy Moller, on the phone from Florida. “That we were still the only ones. With all the hockey families in Canada over the years it’d stand to reason that there’d be more, you know, on the same team with brothers, say, only a year apart. At least, you’d think . . .

“Thirty years is a long time ago. At least, it feels like a long time ago.’’

That year, 1982, introduced the selection process to the international junior set-up, the radical philosophy of pulling top players from all over the country to mesh in a brief period of time. Prior to that, the Memorial Cup champions, bolstered by a sprinkling of add-ons, had represented Canada.

Mike Moller remembers his father, John, hopping in an old Camaro with Troy Murray’s father as a winger and the two of them driving to Winnipeg, where Canada played its first three games, and then up into Minnesota for the remainder of the tournament.

“My father’s no longer with us, he passed away in ’99,’’ says Randy, now in his 10th year as part of the Florida Panthers’ radio broadcasts. “But when Red Deer hosted the tournament, he was one of the organizers there. He put a lot of work into it. He loved the world juniors. So this (‘82) holds a real significance for me and my family.

“That’s why I think that not only playing alongside my brother, and winning a gold medal, but having my father there to enjoy the whole thing with us, is what made that whole experience so special.’’

The tournament today certainly doesn’t resemble the 1982 model. Only a sprinkling of games were televised then, and Canada’s tournament- clinching 3-3 tie in Rochester Minnesota, against the Czechs was strictly a radio affair.

In contrast, 5.1 million Canadians tuned into the 2011 gold-medal tilt between Canada and the Russians from Buffalo, New York.

“I’m very proud that the tournament has grown to what it is today,’’ says Randy Moller. “It’s every kid’s dream now, in midget and junior, to be involved in the world junior hockey championship; to be selected to play for your country.

“It’s gotten so big. So much exposure. So much interest.

“They kind of threw that team together. OK, we’re going to play in a world junior championship. We’ve been picked? Yeah, OK, great. Now it’s taken on so much history — just look the players that have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, from all the countries, not just Canada.

“Even having been in Florida for so long, the World Junior tournament is still a big deal for me and for my family. They’re glued to the TV, and I’m watching whenever I’m not traveling or working. Because Canada has done really well it has become such a huge, huge thing, overtaking the Grey Cup and a lot of other sporting events in the country. It’s become a spectacle.

“At the time I played, we were 17, 18 years old and didn’t realize what we were doing, that we were starting a tradition. I feel very honored about that, even 30 years later.

“And to be able to do it together …”

That rare opportunity, that comes along once once in, oh, 30 years, is what sets the Moller brothers experience apart.

“Most of us didn’t have a lot of family there,’’ says Mike. “James Patrick was from Winnipeg. And Carey Wilson. But for most guys, teammates, coaches, the staff, were their only family. So to have my brother Randy there, with me, well, it couldn’t have gotten much better.

“Any time you have a goal you reach, it’s so fantastic to be able to share that. As brothers we’d played junior together in Lethbridge and for the province at the Air Canada Cup, as it was called then.

“But to be able to do this with my brother, to even be on the team to star with, and then bring home the gold, well …

“It’s a very special feeling. One I’ll always remember. One that doesn’t happen to many people.

“A feeling I hope those Hamilton boys get to experience, too.’’

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
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