Free shipping on all US orders!

Drumheller Miners

The Drumheller Miners were first established in 1933, spending time in both the Southern Alberta Hockey League and the Alberta Senior Hockey League. The most notable storyline coming from that original incarnation is that the five Bentley brothers (Doug, Max, Reg, Roy and Wyatt) played for the team. Doug, Max and Reg all went on to play in the NHL, with Doug and Max being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The second incarnation of the team started play in 1961, once again spending time in the Alberta Senior Hockey League and the Central Alberta Hockey League. While they folded in 1978, the franchise were part of an interesting storyline, as after they won the Allan Cup in 1966, the Miners were chose to represent Canada at the Ahearne Cup in 1967, in Sweden. Drumheller ended up last in the tournament. Art Potter, the president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association at the time, had accompanied the team on their trip. He felt that the officiating was terrible and that the tournament organizers were deliberately trying to prevent the Miners from winning. He authorized the players to withdraw from their final game in the last few minutes, with the players declining. Things got so bad in that final game against the Swedes (a 3 – 1 loss), that an on-ice brawl nearly broke out. Labelled “maniacs” by the Swedish press, reportedly for physical play, the players from the Miners all vowed to never set foot on Swedish ice again. Amusingly, the Soviet media agreed with Potter’s assessment, indicating that the referee was acknowledged as being fair under normal circumstances, but seemed to lean heavily toward the home side when he was involved in international games.