On this episode of the Global News podcast What happened to…? Erica Vella revisits the lore of the lucky loonie that started at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
In 2002, Trent Evans was overcome with excitement when he learned he would be invited to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah to volunteer as an icemaker.
Originally from Edmonton, Alta., Evans had been working as a supervisor for the maintenance team that cared for the ice during Oilers games, team practices and other activities.
“We would make the ice from scratch. So basically, from the concrete surface, the painting of the surface and then flooding the ice and maintaining the ice,” he said.
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“Driving the Zamboni is a big part of the ice-making process and keeping it maintained at three-quarters of an inch of ice depending on the area. (You need) clean, crisp, bright ice so that the logos could be seen.”
Evans was one of 16 people invited to make and maintain the ice that would be on the international stage at the Olympics.
“It was recognition of what I had done in the past with ice making. … To really care about the quality of ice and to be part of the Edmonton team. So, it was pretty cool to be recognized as one of 16.
When Evans arrived in Salt Lake City in February 2002, he started working on creating the ice that would be eventually used in the Olympic hockey tournaments for both the women’s and men’s teams.
To mark centre ice, he placed a loonie — a piece of luck for the Canadian teams.
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“The next morning, I had loonie in hand. … and on that second day making the ice, we flooded over top of the surface,” Evans said.
Canada’s men’s hockey team hadn’t won a gold medal since 1952.
Wayne Gretzky was the team’s executive director, Pat Quinn was the head coach and with players like Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic, Eric Lindros and Jerome Iginla, Eric Zweig, a sports historian and author, said people were hopeful Canada could win the 2002 tournament.
“In 2002, I think people were hopeful that the Canadian team could win … I think the thinking was certainly they can win. You know, they are as good as anybody there. This is a team that should be able to win this,” Zweig said.
READ MORE: Royal Canadian Mint wishes Canada’s athletes luck with the 2012 Lucky Loonie
Evans said just days into the Olympics, rumors about the loonie began to spread.
“It was probably in the second week being there that I had told the Oilers staff about the loonie and they, in turn, had told Gretzky about it. So when I saw Gretzky for the first time in passing, I nonchalantly said, ‘I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a loonie in the ice and I planted it there for you guys and for good luck in skating over a little piece of Canada,'” he said.
“He was pretty cool about the conversation … He basically gave me the signal like, ‘yes, Trent, I know about it, but, you know, keep it quiet.'”
On this episode of Global News’ What happened to…? Erica Vella finds out if the loonie was really lucky and speaks with Trent Evans to see what happened once it was revealed that it was hidden in the ice. She also finds out where the loonie is now and if its legacy has continued on.
Contact:
Email: erica.vella@globalnews.ca
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