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Hall of Famers

Hall of Famer

CLARE DRAKE

Inducted in 1989

Member Details

Date of Birth: January 9, 1928
Place of Birth: Yorkton, Saskatchewan
Date of Passing: May 13, 2018
Sport: Ice Hockey
Member Category: Builder

Career Highlights

1958-1983

University of Alberta Head Hockey Coach

1975

Canadian Intercollegiate Association of Universities (CIAU) hockey coach of the year

1980

Co-Coach Canadian Olympic Hockey Team

First Canadian University hockey coach to record 500 victories

Guided University of Alberta to 14 conference and five national titles

Hall of Famer CLARE DRAKE
Sport

Story

Often referred to as the Dean of Canadian intercollegiate hockey coaches, Clare Drake spent his lifetime involved in sports and many years as the head coach of the University of Alberta Golden Bears.  His record 697 wins makes him the winningest coach in North American intercollegiate hockey, far surpassing the 555 wins of the legendary John MacInnes of Michigan Tech. Drake always led an active life, participating in football, basketball, and track and field in high school as well as playing junior A hockey with Regina and Medicine Hat.  While attending UBC, he played hockey and junior varsity basketball.  For several summers he played semi-pro baseball. But he is best known as coach. In total, Drake coached six CIAU national championship teams and three of his players were Sullivan Trophy winners as outstanding university players in Canada. A professor in the faculty of physical education, Drake wrote numerous research articles on the technical aspects of hockey as well as lending his expertise to a variety of educational hockey films and videos. Drake was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1980 and the University of Alberta Wall of Fame in 1987.