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2002 Salt Lake City: Men's & women's hockey

Broadcast Date: Dec. 22, 2002

In 2002, the Canadian men's and women's hockey teams gloriously claimed gold, deftly defeating their American opponents. After the game, a relaxed Wayne Gretzky sits down to a news conference. Smiling, he raises his hand and reveals their secret weapon: a shiny gold loonie. The loonie, Gretzky explains, had been buried at centre ice by the Canadian icemakers for good luck. In this CBC Radio interview, Edmonton icemaker Trent Evans explains how and why he hid Canada's most beloved and famous loonie.

2002 Salt Lake City: Men's & women's hockey

• Before the Canadians struck gold, the men's team had a shaky start and lost an early game to Sweden. A tense Gretzky faced the media. "I don't think we dislike the other countries nearly as much as they hate us," he told a press conference. "That's a fact. They want to see us lose. They may say something different in public, but on the ice, [the players] hear it."

• Before the puck was dropped in the final game in the Olympic playoffs, captain Mario Lemieux swiftly tapped the loonie with the blade of his hockey stick.
• The Canadian women's team defeated the American team with a score of 3-2. The Americans, who had won gold at the 1998 Nagano Games, were heavily favoured to win. Three days later, the men's team faced off against the Americans in the gold-medal game. Fifty years had passed since Canada last won Olympic hockey gold.

• Icemaker Trent Evans donated the loonie to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• "On the money market, this loonie is worth 63 cents," Hall of Fame curator Phil Pritchard told CBC. "To the Hall and to hockey fans, it's worth its weight in gold."

• Evans and journalist Roy MacGregor published the story of the celebrated loonie in A Loonie for Luck in 2002.
• Inspired by the idea of the Salt Lake City loonie, Team Canada hid another loonie under the crossbar of the Swedish net for good luck in 2003. Team Canada successfully went on to win the championship in Helsinki.

2002 Salt Lake City: Men's & women's hockey

Medium: Radio

Stock-shot

Program: The Inside Track

Broadcast Date: Dec. 22, 2002

Guest(s): Trent Evans, Wayne Gretzky, Roy MacGregor

Host: Robin Brown

Duration: 12:40

Last updated:
Dec. 14, 2009