FROM backstopping his Fort William Hurricanes side to a local championship and a berth in western Canadian junior final in 1952, to setting an NHL goaltender record that stood for 58 years, Dave Gatherum made many impressions early in his career.
In an era where teams only carried one goaltender, places to play for those who manned the nets were limited.
Arriving in the interior of British Columbia in the fall of 1955, Gatherum would go on a five-year run with the Kelowna Packers side that saw him star in the Okanagan Senior Hockey League.
A solid playoff in 1956 saw him endear himself to the Packers’ faithful as he backstopped his club to a semifinal triumph over the rival Penticton Vees, who represented Canada and won the 1955 World Hockey Championship in Germany, in a best-of-seven set that went the distance.
Meeting the heavily-favoured Vernon Canadians in the OSHL final, Gatherum’s efforts were not enough as Kelowna came up just short in their quest for a league crown.
His play though throughout the season earned him first team all-star laurels.
Also, Vernon was so impressed with the goaltender’s skills, that they added him to their roster as a pick-up the rest of the way.
Advancing to the Patton Cup western Canadian senior finale, the B.C. side toppled the Winnipeg Maroons, who had handled the Fort William Beavers in semifinal action, with four wins and a tie.
With Gatherum along for the ride, Vernon proved to be unbeatable as they went on to win the Allan Cup after disposing of the eastern title holders, from Ontario, the Chatham Maroons in a series that went five.
Following a 20-win season in 1956-57, the talented goaltender would excel yet again the following year and put an end to Vernon’s three-year run as league champs.
Tabbed an OSHL first team all-star selection once more, he guided Kelowna to top spot with 33 victories with the Packers while only allowing a league-best 184 goals against.
Polishing off Penticton in the semis, four games to one, Kelowna then handled the Kamloops Chiefs to claim the OSHL championship for the first time in six seasons, winning four times versus a pair of defeats and a draw.
Buoyed for Gatherum’s greatness, Kelowna then handled the Rossland Warriors in five to earn the B.C. provincial trophy.
From there the Packers earned western Canadian Patton Cup supremacy by dispatching the Winnipeg Maroons in one over the minimum.
Meeting the Belleville McFarlands in the Allan Cup final, it proved that another Lakehead legend, in Bart Bradley, would end up with the bragging rights.
Bradley, who starred for the 1948 Memorial Cup-winning Port Arthur West End Bruins, was Belleville’s leading scorer.
While Gatherum would post a pair of shutouts in the series that went right to the end, Bradley provided the tying tally in the third period helping the McFarlands take Game 7 and claim the national title.
Even with the narrow setback there, Kelowna was selected to represent the country in an eight-match series in both Sweden and the Soviet Union in November of ’58.
After a long and arduous trek overseas, the Canadian contingent dropped a 5-2 result to the Swedish National Team in the opener before rebounding with a couple of 5-2 triumphs themselves.
Becoming the first western sports team to compete behind the Iron Curtain, the Packers dropped a 4-3 score to the Russian Red Army to kick things off.
From there though, Gatherum’s brilliance was the difference as the Packers went unbeaten the rest of the way while playing to capacity crowds.
He was dazzling in draws against the Soviet Wings (1-1) and Moscow Dynamo (2-2), a win over the Russian Jr. team (4-3) then finished in style with a dismantling of the Moscow Selects (5-1) in the finale.
In the meeting with the Wings, the maskless-Gatherum was nearly kayoed after taking an errant puck to the head, but regrouped and showed that Canadian hockey trademark of grit and determination that resulted in a 4-2-2 record for the European adventure.
Heading back to the Lakehead following his playing days, he remained involved in the game, returning to his junior hockey roots as a manager and executive.
Setting the stage with his on-ice exploits, for many after him, Dave Gatherum was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.