In 1948 ice hockey forward Fred Etcher found himself in the city of his birth, Oshawa, Ontario, playing Junior B hockey for the local team. By 1950 he had advanced to Junior A and was skating with the Oshawa Generals of the Junior Ontario Hockey League, an affiliation that would last until 1953. His first senior level team was the Oshawa Truckmen, a temporary team meant to replace the Oshawa Generals after their Hambly Arena burnt down. When they changed into the Whitby Dunlops in 1954, Etcher stayed with team and would do so until 1960. He first won an Allan Cup, given annually in Canada to the senior men’s ice hockey champions, in 1957, which earned his team the opportunity to represent Canada at the 1958 World Champions. Canada and the Dunlops took the gold medal at this tournament, but Etcher was not among them and only played one match with the team that entire season. When the Dunlops won the Allan Cup for a second time in 1959, however, they turned down their chance to play for Canada at the 1960 Winter Olympics, which passed to the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen. It was at this event that Etcher got the opportunity to play internationally, joining the Dutchmen for seven games and scoring nine goals. He was Canada’s top goal-scorer at the game and took home a silver medal from the competition. He retired upon his return, but spent the 1961-1962 season with the local Uxbridge, Ontario hockey team in the Ontario Intermediate Hockey Leagues, ostensibly as a player/coach, although he never actually suited up for any matches.
Canada