Sports Hall of Fame

Born February 27, 1908, Andrew Blair '25 atended St. John's College from 1918-1925. A Winnipeg native, Andrew played centre at the University of Manitoba as a Bison hockey player for a number of years, and was a member of the team that won the 1928 Allan Cup. He then went on to play professional hockey in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs for eight seasons and then one season with the Chicago Blackhawks.

While playing for Toronto, Andrew was a Stanley Cup Champion in 1932 and was named to the NHL All-Star Game in 1934. For his accomplishments on the ice, Andrew was named an "Honoured Member" of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.

While at SJR, “Sally Squash” won junior squash Nationals in 1988 and 1991, and was team captain for Canada in the 1995 Junior World Championships in Sydney, Australia. She won SJR’s best field hockey player award and later went on to play for the University of Manitoba while studying for her Bachelor of Science degree.

Sally pursued a healthcare degree related to her sport, graduating in 2000 with a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. She is currently a level II coach, manages the squash program at a San Diego club and actively promotes the sport. She continues to compete in men’s tournaments in Southern California and considers one of her biggest career highlights to be having played 7-time World Champion Nicol David of Malaysia at a sell-out exhibition in Los Angeles in 2008.

During his time at SJR (1967-1970), Ted competed on every school sports team he could. He went on to become an elite athlete at the University of Manitoba, competing in a wide range of sports and earning level 3 coaching designations in hockey, cross-country skiing and soccer while completing degrees in Physical Education and Education. Throughout his life, Ted’s contribution to Manitoba sport has been as invaluable as it has been extensive. He as volunteered and coached cross-country skiing at national and international levels, been a member of multiple boards and established novel sport programs. Ted served as Chef de Mission for Team Manitoba and played a key role in the successful Winnipeg bid for the 1999 Pan Am Games. Most recently, Ted has served as director for Sport Manitoba.

Jaimie Dawson’s impressive badminton results began in 1985, when he won the Canadian Juvenile (U16) Singles Championship while still attending SJR. This was followed by the 1988 Canadian Junior (U19) Men’s Doubles, and Mixed Doubles Championships. In 1992, he was Men’s Singles Champion in two major tournaments, the Canadian Nationals and the Paris French Open. He represented Canada in the 1994 Commonwealth Games. In 1995, he again won the Canadian Men’s Singles Championship. Later that year, Jaimie won Men’s Singles Gold and Men’s Doubles Bronze at the Argentina Pan Am Games. In 1996, he was a member of Canada’s team at the Atlanta Olympic Games. Jaimie has been a member of the Canadian team at more than 50 international tournaments from 1990-1996.

An original New York Ranger, Murray Murdoch was the first Iron Man of Hockey, playing in the Rangers’ first 11 seasons without missing a game. He totalled 508 regular season games and 55 Stanley Cup playoff games in the days when the regular season was fewer than 50 games. His first NHL contract – worth $5,000 with a $1,500 signing bonus – was signed in the lobby of Winnipeg’s historic Fort Garry Hotel with Conn Smythe, who was then assembling the Rangers for the 1926-27 season. Murray played with New York until 1937, helping them win two Stanley Cups (1928 and 1933).

He went on to coach at Yale University from 1938-1965. An iron man in life as well as hockey, Murray Murdoch was only two days short of his 97th birthday when he passed away in 2001.

While at SJR, Paget was a multi-talented athlete who began competing in cross-country ski races in 1975. In 1978 he placed first in his category in the internationally recognized Kortelopet race in Wisconsin–the first Canadian to win this event. Paget turned to biathlon the following year and in his first raced placed second in the Canadian Junior Championships. In 1980 he was the Manitoba junior biathlon champion, representing both Manitoba and Canada in competitions at home and abroad. In 1984, he improved steadily and in 1986 achieved the best showing ever for a Canadian in international biathlon competition, placing 26th at the World Championships. Paget qualified for and competed as a Canadian biathlete in the 1988 Calgary Olympics, at the time the only Manitoban to reach that goal.

Art Coulter learned to play hockey at the old St. John’s rink and at the Forks located at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, an experience he later described as “300 kids and one puck”. His NHL debut was with Chicago in 1931, helping the Blackhawks win their first ever Stanley Cup in 1934. Traded to the New York Rangers in 1936, he became their captain in 1937 and led them to their first Stanley Cup in seven years in 1940. A fierce competitor, he often led the Rangers in penalty minutes. During a reunion for the Rangers at the time of their 1994 Stanley Cup Championship, Coulter compared his era with the then-current team: “Our old team that won the Stanley Cup could skate backwards blindfolded and whup the Rangers they’ve got today.” Coulter was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947.

*Graduation date not confirmed.

Culver Riley was considered an Olympic-calibre rower/sculler from 1926 until 1932. After serving in WWII he returned to Winnipeg as a recipient of the Order of the British Empire. He was concerned about Winnipeg’s inadequate sports facilities so, as President of the Winnipeg Football Club, Riley prepared plans for a new stadium with a baseball park for the Winnipeg Goldeyes, and a hockey arena. The stadium was completed in 1953 and the arena in 1955. He was named as President of Winnipeg Enterprises, the landlord of both facilities. The next decade saw Riley named as President of the organizing committee for the 1967 Pan Am Games, generally considered the best games to that point. He also served as a Director for Royal Bank, Great West Life, Dominion Bronze, Union Oil, and Southam Press. Riley was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.

Barry Manning became a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Board of Directors in 1951, serving for 17 years until the end of the 1968 season. He was elected Secretary in 1955, holding that position until 1960 when he assumed the position of Vice-President. He was involved in several player contract disputes with the NFL, settling the most in the Bombers’ favour. In early 1957, he helped sign a neophyte coach, Harry “Bud” Grant, generally considered the Bombers’ most successful coach. In 1963, he was named President of the Western Football Conference at a time when the West and East ran separate schedules, the winner of each playing for the Grey Cup. Manning served on many boards, including the SJR Board of Governors from 1966-1970 and SJR Alumni Board from 1982-1984. Manning was inducted into the Blue Bombers Hall of Fame in 2002.

Emma Robinson began rowing in 1990 with the University of Toronto; the next year she won University of Toronto’s first gold medal in over ten years at the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia. During a remarkable university career, she won gold at the 1992 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and gold (eights) and silver (fours) at the 1993 World University Games. She was subsequently recruited by the Canadian National team, with whom she won silver in eights at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as well as three consecutive World Championships in pairs. In 1999, Robinson had surgery to remove a cancerous thyroid. Four days later she was training full time, winning gold at the World’s in pairs. In the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, she won bronze (eights) and finished fourth (pairs). Robinson was inducted into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

In 1915 “Red” Dutton left SJCS to serve in WWI. After nearly losing his right leg at Vimy Ridge in 1917, Dutton returned to Winnipeg and strengthened the leg by playing in seven local hockey leagues during the 1919-1920 season. He turned pro in 1920, accepting $2,500 to play for the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League until 1926, twice making the first all-star team. Joining the NHL in 1926, he played for the Montreal Maroons until traded in 1930 to the New York Americans. Dutton played for New York until 1936 after which he took over coaching and managing the club until 1942. In 1943 he accepted the position of NHL President, serving until 1964 when he named Clarence Campbell as his successor. He ended his involvement with hockey as a trustee of the Stanley Cup from 1950-87. Dutton was inducted in the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.

Andy Currie began playing football at St. John’s College School and moved on to Junior and the CFL. In 1928 he played for the National Junior Football Champion Regina Pats and then, one week later, for the Regina Roughriders in the Grey Cup; he also played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He coached high school football from 1934-1950, leading Daniel MacIntyre to four consecutive championships from 1947-1950. In 1982, he was voted high school coach of the 1940s. Equally adept at officiating, Currie refereed amateur football from 1953-1960, was Referee-in-Chief for Manitoba from 1953-58 and trained other officials from 1956-1960. He was a CFL referee from 1957-1966. In 1965 Currie chaired the CFL Rule Book, adopted in 1967. Currie was inducted into the Winnipeg Blue Bomber, Manitoba, and Canadian Football Halls of Fame in 1984, 1989 and 1974 respectively.