In the late 1970s John Devaney played ice hockey for the Golden Bears at the University of Alberta. In his first season with the team Devaney played in the 1977 final of the University Cup, with them losing 4–1 to the Toronto Varsity Blues. The Golden Bears made up for their loss by winning the next two finals with Devaney finishing the 1979 tournament as the leading scorer. He was named as the team’s MVP, earning him a spot on Team Canada for the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. At the Games, however, Canada was eliminated in the preliminary round in a tough group that featured the pre-tournament favourites the Soviet Union. For the 1980–81 season Devaney went to Switzerland to play for EHC Visp before coming back to Canada and becoming a coach.
Canada