Lesson plan: Who’s the greatest of the great?

Aim

To increase youth awareness of Canadians with ties to hockey who have served in military uniform over the years.

Objectives

Youth will:

• better understand the contributions of Canadian hockey players, builders or referees who served in the military and were inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame;
• learn about individuals who excelled in both the military and hockey, by researching information about them on the Library and Archives Canada and Hockey Hall of Fame websites;
• prepare arguments to explain which of these outstanding individuals should be considered the “Greatest of the Great.”

Target audience

This activity is suitable for ages 12 to 17.

Sequence of events and anticipated time frame [approximately 75 minutes]

(This activity can be modified to fit available time.)

• Introductory discussion [10 minutes]
• Research and preparation [30 minutes]
• Presentations [30 minutes]
• Wrap-up discussion [5 minutes]
• Possible extension activity [variable]

Materials

• List of Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame inductees who served in the military
• Computer with Internet access
• Library and Archives Canada Service Files of the First World War, 1914-1918 – CEF online database
• Hockey Hall of Fame Honoured Members online database

Introductory discussion [10 minutes]

Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have played hockey over the years but only a small fraction fulfilled the dream of playing at a highly competitive level. During the war years, however, many of these elite players decided to put their hockey careers on hold to “do their part” and serve their country in military uniform. What could have been their reasons for enlisting? Considering they were gifted athletes and also helped maintain the morale of the public during a hard time when it was much needed, should Canada have considered exempting professional hockey players from military service? Lead a class discussion on the topic.

In this activity, youth will research members of a very select group of about 60 Canadians who served their country in military uniform and have also been inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame, (whether as a player, builder or referee). Each student or group will present their Hall of Famer to the class and explain why, in their opinion, this person should be considered the “Greatest of the Great” in regards to his contributions to military and hockey. Of course, there are no real winners expected, no right or wrong answer, but one of the purposes of the activity is to encourage youth to learn how to defend their points of view while learning about some exceptional Canadians.

Research and Preparation [30 minutes]

Assign one Hall of Famer to each student (or group of students) from the list of Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame inductees who served in the military.

Have youth research their subject in the Library and Archives Canada Service Files of the First World War, 1914-1918 – CEF online database. Please note that attestation papers or service files are only available for hockey players on the list who served in the First World War. For hockey players who served in the Second World War, use various other on-line resources. (For privacy reasons, military service files of individuals who served in the Second World War are not yet available to the public).

Ask youth to record information that highlights the important military contributions of the individual. All military service is important, but point out that some wartime roles were more dangerous than others and some men received medals for their bravery. It could therefore be interesting for youth to bring up any decorations their subject received in their class presentation.

Have youth also read the biography of their individual on the Hockey Hall of Fame website to find out more about their hockey careers and achievements. Remind them that there are three categories under “Honoured Members” in which to search for their individual (Player inductee, Builder inductee or Referee inductee).

Encourage youth to also search the Internet to potentially find out additional personal information about their Hall of Famer, such as hometown, place of enlistment, places served, other achievements, photos, etc., which could be included in their presentation.

Presentations [30 minutes]

Have each youth or group present to the class their Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame inductee who served in the military.

You may want to prepare a chart in which youth could attribute a score from 1 to 10 with regards to the military contributions and the hockey contributions of each member. This could help with the wrap-up discussions in finding the “Greatest of the Great.”

Wrap-up discussion [5 minutes]

Lead a class discussion about the individuals highlighted in the presentations. Have students debate on who should be selected as the “Greatest of the Great.” Make sure that the debate stays civilised and arguments are supportable. When the activity is over, remind your students that each individual made an outstanding contribution to Canada’s society and we should remember them all. By extension, we should also take a moment to remember all men and women who served over the years, and have a special thought for those who sadly died in military uniform.

Possible extension activity [variable]

Youth could use key information from their research and make a “Wall of Fame” in the classroom, possibly also including local military members.

Youth may want to dig deeper in their research and make this the subject of a history fair project. They could search for military hockey teams of yesteryear or how hockey is still proudly played in the modern-day military.

You might want to refer to the special Web feature Hockey and the Canadian Military for additional information.