Ice hockey forward John “Jack” Douglas spent 1950 through 1952 playing his chosen sport in Scotland with the Dundee Tigers and, upon his return to Canada, he joined the Pembroke Lumber Kings for four consecutive seasons. During this time the team went through a league change in 1953, from the Eastern Canadian Senior Hockey League to the Northern Ontario Hockey Association, and Douglas was loaned to the Halifax Atlantics of the Maritime Major Hockey League during the 1954-1955 season. He transferred to the Indianapolis Chiefs of the International Hockey League in 1956, but returned to the Lumber Kings for a final year in 1957. He joined the Chatham Maroons in 1958 and skated with them until his 1964 retirement. In 1960, however, he was presented with a unique opportunity. The 1959 winners of the Allan Cup, Canada’s annual trophy for the senior men’s ice hockey champions, were the Whitby Dunlops, but they turned down the opportunity to represent their country at the 1960 Winter Olympics. The offer passed to the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen, who accepted, and then recruited Douglas to join them on the journey. A defenseman, he played in seven matches and scored three goals against the German team, eventually earning him an Olympic silver medal.
Douglas’ situation was soon reversed, however, as the Chatham Maroons won the Allan Cup in 1960, but rejected the chance to play for Canada at the 1961 World Championships. Their Allan Cup opponents, the Trail Smoke Eaters, agreed to play and eventually earned the gold medal. It was not, however, his last opportunity to represent Canada internationally. When the Galt Terriers won the Allan Cup in 1961, Douglas was again recruited to play abroad and he earned a second silver medal at the World Championships. During his final season, he suited up for one game with the Pittsburgh Hornets of the American Hockey League, in addition to his duties with the Chatham Maroons. He died in January 2003.
Canada