Jack Manson, a goalie who helped Canada win gold at the 1950 IHF World Championship in London, England, celebrated his 100th birthday in Edmonton on 17 March, becoming only the second known centenarian in IIHF history. 

Risto Tiitola, a Finn who played one game at the 1939 World Championship, passed away in 2015 several months after celebrating his 100th birthday.

Manson shared the goaltending duties some 76 years ago in London with Wilbur Delaney, and together they led Canada to a perfect 7-0 record. Manson was in goal for four of those wins, allowing just five goals, including the final game, a 3-1 win over Tre Kronor on 22 March 1950. In that finale, Doug MacAuley scored in the first period and Hassie Young and Leo Lucchini in the second to give Canada a 3-0 lead. Holger Nurmela scored for Sweden midway through the third, but they could get no closer. Canada had a 32-12 edge in shots and brought home the gold.

Born in Edmonton on 17 March 1926, Manson put his life and career on hold at the tender age of 17, when he enlisted in the RCAF. He trained as a pilot but soon after re-mustered to air gunner and reached the rank of sergeant. He was too young to be sent overseas and was discharged in 1945, but he maintained connections to the RCAF for many years after. 

Manson first rose to prominence in the hockey world during the 1947-48 season when he led the Edmonton Flyers to victory in the Allan Cup finals. A celebratory parade down Jasper Ave. in Edmonton drew some 60,000 fans, which at that time amounted to half the city’s population. To this day, this Flyers team is the only Edmonton representative to win the Allan Cup. 

Two years later, Manson was on the Edmonton Mercurys team that represented Canada at the World Championship. He was the only player on both of these champion teams. The Mercs travelled to Europe well before the start of the Worlds in March to tour and promote Canadian hockey. In all, the team played 33 games in Scotland, Belgium, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, and England. They won 30 of those games, Manson and Delaney more or less splitting the goaltending duties.

“The crossing took seven days, and we were a bit nervous,” Manson explained from Kipnes Centre for Veterans in Edmonton, his current home, “because we knew we were expected to win gold. It was a wonderful win, but a relief as well.”

“The story I remember hearing about as a child,” Janet, the second-oldest of Jack’s six children recalled, “was dad telling us that if they were well ahead in an exhibition game, he would do a little figure-skating show for the crowd between periods, in full hockey gear, goalie pads and all! He had never taken figure-skating lessons, but he was a real joker and a bit of a showman. He told us that he would get a great response from the fans!”

As with the Allan Cup win, the City of Edmonton put on another impressive parade to welcome the Mercs back from Europe after their win. 

A pro career was not to be, however. Jack had married in 1947, and over the next several years he and wife Joan had six children, starting with Judy in 1951, followed by Jane in 1953, Janet in 1957, Joyce in 1960, and twins John and Jim in 1963. Needing a steady income and wanting to be home every night to raise a family, Jack retired from hockey in 1952 and worked his way up to branch manager of a paper supply company in Edmonton called Smith Davidson Lecky. 

“The truth is, NHL teams didn’t want married men,” Jack explained. “Conn Smythe and the Leafs wanted guys who were single and didn’t have any other responsibility. It might sound funny now, but that’s the way it was back then.”

Jack retired from Lecky Paper in 1977 when the company restructured. He started to play oldtimers’ hockey, continuing until age 79. He most often played with a team called the Edmonton Swaybacks, and they competed for many years in the famous oldtimers’ tournament in California started by “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz.

As a kid, Jack spent his summers on Pigeon Lake just outside Edmonton, and he later got to learn a lot about bricklaying through his best friend, Russ Clifford. Jack collected bricks here and there when old buildings were torn down, and over time he accumulated enough—53,000 in all!—to build his own house on the lake, at Silver Beach, where he moved to full time in 1979. Never one to do things casually, Jack’s interest in bricks led him to research the history of the brick industry and write a book, “Bricks in Alberta,” in 1983.

Silver Beach on Pigeon Lake created another hockey connection for Jack and his family. The house next door was bought by Daryl Katz, who later became owner of the Edmonton Oilers. The two families became close because of Katz’s kids and Jack’s grandkids, and once a year Katz would give the Manson family a box at an Oilers game. Then, last year, when Manson celebrated his 99th birthday, Katz enlisted Wayne Gretzky to send Manson a signed Oilers’ jersey. “You are the Great One—happy 99,” Gretzky wrote on the back.

Joan passed away in 2010 while watching the final day of the 2010 Olympics on TV in palliative care surrounded by family, and Jack continued to live full time in his homemade house on Pigeon Lake until he was 95. From there, he moved briefly to Sherwood Park before relocating to Kipnes. 

Jack celebrated his 100th birthday last week in style, surrounded by family and friends, some of whom flew in for the occasion from as far away as Vancouver and Toronto. Blind now and wheelchair-bound, his mind is still sharp, and he loves talking about hockey and the good old times. “He would tell stories to anyone who would listen,” Joan joked. “On good days, he remembers pretty much everything from his hockey days.”

Of course, any time you talk to someone who turns 100, the obvious question is, what’s your secret? For Jack, it’s a combination of genes and good living. His mother lived to be 103, but he also never smoked and kept active throughout his life, raising six children, coaching youth hockey, and remaining interested in learning new things. Over the course of his life, he took up many hobbies including wine making, leather work, welding, and stone masonry, among others.

And you can add archivist to this list. Manson curated a detailed history of the gold-medal win, which he has preserved to this day.

“He kept everything from the 1950 World Championship,” Joyce marvelled. “His scrapbook is massive. It has all the programs, posters, and menus from dinners from oversees. Everything.”

Over the years, Manson and his championship teams have been inducted into several halls of fame, notably the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame, the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame, and the Wetaskiwin & County Sports Hall of Fame. 

To win a gold medal at the World Championship is a dream for any hockey player, but in the context of a life that endures 100 years, it is a far different achievement than for most. Manson is part of IIHF history for being a part of that gold-medal team, of course, but he is also celebrated for a life of almost unparalleled longevity in the hockey world.

Happy birthday, Jack!