Al Purvis

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameAllan Ruggles "Al"•Purvis
Used nameAl•Purvis
Born9 January 1929 in Trochu, Alberta (CAN)
Died13 August 2009 in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia (CAN)
AffiliationsEdmonton Mercurys, Edmonton (CAN)
NOC Canada
Medals OG
Gold 1
Silver 0
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

Allan “Al” Purvis moved to Calgary, Alberta as a child and attended Western Canada High School. By the time he was 19, he had already played junior hockey for a time with the Calgary Buffaloes as a defenseman and was nearly recruited by the National Hockey League’s Chicago Black Hawks, before joining the Edmonton Mercurys, a senior level ice hockey team sponsored by a local car dealership. Within two years of him joining the team, he was the team’s assistant captain and helped them win the Western Intermediate League Championship, which earned them the right to represent Canada at the 1950 World Ice Hockey Championships, where the team easily took the gold medal. It was this victory that would, two years later, catch the eye of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and send his team to the 1952 Winter Olympics, where Canada took the gold medal in the ice hockey tournament. In eight games played, Purvis scored two goals.

After the Olympics, Purvis returned to Calgary to work at his team’s sponsoring dealership and retired in 2002 as the company’s owner and chief executive after over half a century of service. He was also the director of the Edmonton Eskimos Canadian football team for many years, including the five consecutive seasons that they were Grey Cup champions, and played amateur baseball for the Edmonton Cubs and the Edmonton Dodgers. He was inducted into the Alberta Sport Hall of Fame in 1968 and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2002 as a member of the 1952 Edmonton Mercurys.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1952 Winter Olympics Ice Hockey (Ice Hockey) CAN Al Purvis
Ice Hockey, Men (Olympic) Canada 1 Gold

Olympic family relations

Special Notes