Edmonton Oilers Heritage Website

While the Edmonton Mercury's are far more recognized (at least in a historical context) for their 1950 World Championships and 1952 Olympic gold medal wins, it was the Edmonton Gainers Superiors who earned the city’s first major international triumph two decades earlier.

Bankrolled by Cliff Gainer, the owner of the Edmonton meat-packing plant and featuring a half-dozen players who worked there, the Superiors were by far the most successful industrial-league team the province had ever seen. Led by John "Red" Beattie, the Superiors won the 1931 Herald-Journal Cup as provincial senior champs. Right after the victory, Beattie was whisked away from Gainers to a new life as a forward for big spender Charles Adams and his Boston Bruins.

The Superiors had also gained a cross-country following due to the presence of James "Buster" Brown in the lineup. A multi-talented athlete, Brown was a member of the gold-medal 4x100 relay team at the 1930 Commonwealth Games and was a three-time winner of the Bennett Cup as Alberta track champion. Brown’s footspeed translated well on the ice, and he bolstered the Superiors’ attack.

In November 1932, the Superiors began a three-month odyssey that would eventually take them to the 1933 International Championships. The team sailed from Canada to Glasgow, where they began a series of games against Europe’s top clubs—and played in front of a throng of over 14,000 at the Stade de Paris.

The International Championship took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland and was the rival tournament to the newly-formed International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championship, which was being held in Prague. In Prague, the Toronto Nationals (representing Canada) had to settle for silver after being upset by the United States team.

But in Switzerland the Granites fared much better. The tourney represented the conclusion of the team’s famous European tour. After three months, the Superiors had played 38 games, winning 34 and tying once.

The team showed no sign of a hangover when it returned to Alberta; two more provincial championships followed in 1933 and 1935. The 1933 final was a thriller. The Superiors faced the Calgary Broncs in the final; the Broncs had budding superstar Sweeney Schriner in their lineup, who would go on to a Hall of Fame career.

The Superiors won the deciding game 4-3 in overtime, but the truth is that they outplayed the Broncs for 59 of 60 minutes. The championship game saw the Superiors march into the last minute of regulation time with a 3-1 lead, but two goals in 20 seconds from the Broncs sent the game into overtime.