By Tom Annelin / HockeyThunderBay.com
THE names of those local stars who shone brightly on the confines of the ice remains long and storied.
One such individual who went on to make his mark, right up to the international stage, was the late Henry (Hank) Akervall.
Born in Port Arthur in August of 1937, the up-and-coming defenceman made the transition to the Thunder Bay Junior Hockey League ranks in the fall of 1953 as a 16-year-old blueliner with his hometown Port Arthur North Stars side.
In Akervall’s first two campaigns with the North Stars, they could not best the rival Fort William Columbus Canadiens, who reeled off back-to-back TBJHL titles.
Moving on to the 1955-56 season, Port Arthur was solid defensively, only allowing a league-low 89 goals-against, but still finished second in the three-team loop, with the Canadiens ending up in first, while the Fort William Hurricanes were a distant third.
Meeting the Herks in semifinal play, the clubs split the first two contests, before the Stars took the next pair of outings to punch a ticket to the final against the highly-touted Canadiens.
The Mickey Hennessy-coached Habs took the opener of the best-of-seven final, however backed by stellar netminding of 17-year-old Bruce Gamble, Port Arthur won the next four to capture the local Jr. crown.
After disposing of the St. Boniface Canadiens from Manitoba in six games, Akervall and his teammates set-up a date with the Regina Pats in the western Canadian Abbott Cup final.
While the North Stars won the first two match-ups, at home, the Pats, who were bolstered by future NHLers Murray Balfour and Bill Hicke in their line-up, stormed back to take four of the next five meetings, including winning Game 7 in overtime, to become the first team ever to repeat as Abbott Cup champs.
Heading into the following season, Akervall’s solid defensive play caught the eye of the Ontario Hockey Association’s Hamilton Tiger Cubs, who went on to acquire his playing rights.
Skating in the Steel City for his last two years of junior, the Tiger Cubs did advance all the way to the 1958 OHA final, only to be beat by the vaunted Toronto Marlboros.
The rock-solid play on the backend did earn Akervall the opportunity to attend Michigan Tech University in Houghton, Mich., where he would shine for the Huskies while playing U.S. collegiate hockey.
Named a first team Western Collegiate Hockey Association all-star on defence in both 1960 and ’62, Akervall also went to earn NCAA All-American laurels in each of the those years as well.
He also garnered a All-WCHA second-team nod in 1961.
As an assistant captain in his senior year, the Huskies nearly ran the table in ‘62, going 29-3 overall and winning both the WCHA’s MacNaughton Cup and eventually the NCAA national championship, smashing No. 1-rated Clarkson 7-1 in the title game.
Akervall’s contributions on the point earned him a place on the All-Tournament team at those nationals, which were held in Utica, N.Y.
His U.S. college career complete, he headed briefly to Finland to play and coach there.
A busy 1963-64 season saw Akervall receive the call from his country and featured him being selected to the Canadian National Team roster that competed in Winter Olympic Games held in Innsbruck, Austria.
He would also go on to serve as captain of that squad.
Finishing tied for second overall, with a 5-2 record, Canada had thought they had won the bronze medal, based of goal differential.
However, a controversial last-minute decision to change the rules for the Olympic tournament and not go by International Ice Hockey Federation guidelines, in terms of tiebreakers, the team would get fleeced and stunningly placed fourth overall, much to the dismay of the Canadian contingent on hand.
So reassured, and believing they had earned an Olympic medal, they had arrived for the medal ceremonies, only to learn of the sudden modification of the rules and the denial of bringing home hardware.
Adding to the disappointment was that the medalists in Innsbruck were to also be recognized World Hockey Championship honourees as well, thus sticking Canada with a double dose of dissatisfaction.
It was not until 41 years later that this wrong was finally made right, when in 2005, the IIHF corrected the erroneous ruling and rightfully awarded Canada the bronze medal.
After returning home disappointed from Austria, Akervall joined the Port Arthur Bearcats and helped them win the Thunder Bay Senior Hockey League title under coach Bart Bradley.
Later that same year, he was named to the Lakehead Selects senior all-star squad that took on the Russian National Team at the Fort William Gardens, that December.
Akervall dished out two assists, including one on the late tying tally, as part of a come from behind 3-3 draw against their heavily-favoured opponents.
While continuing to play senior hockey for the Bearcats, and eventually with the Thunder Bay Twins, Akervall joined the faculty of Lakehead University where he would serve as director of athletics.
Serving as the first-ever coach of the L.U. Norwesters hockey program in 1966, right up until 1975, his teams would win International Collegiate Hockey Association (ICHA) and Great Plains Athletics Conference (GPAC) in 1967 and 1973 respectively.
Inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame on September 17, 1988, Henry Akervall remains among the storied group of those from the northern shores of Lake Superior, who have made significant contributions to the game.