The Winnipeg Falcons

The Falcons battled against the Winnipeg establishment who considered the Icelandic community inferior.  The Falcon Hockey Club was shunned by the city's senior league and formed the Manitoba Independent League with Kenora, Brandon and Selkirk. The Falcons won the Manitoba League title in 1914-1915, but the team found its ranks depleted as many of its players served overseas in WW I.

After the war, under the guidance of Frank Fredrickson, the team reorganized only to find themselves again excluded from Winnipeg's senior hockey ranks. They organized a new Manitoba Independent League with Selkirk and Brandon and won the Independent League title.

They eliminated the Fort William Maple Leafs in the Allan Cup semi-final en route to winning the championship in Toronto, where they defeated the favored University of Toronto Blues.

As Allan Cup champions, the Falcons were chosen to represent Canada at the Antwerp Games of 1920, where, for the first time, hockey had been declared an official Olympic sport. The team won a close-fought game against the strong American team and easily defeated the Swedes to capture the gold medal.

On their return to Canada, the Falcons were cheered at civic receptions in Montreal and Toronto. In Winnipeg, the team was feted with a parade as a jubilant crowd of thousands, celebrating a half-day civic holiday, came out to cheer their heroes.

Players such as Frank Fredrickson, Slim Halderson and Bobby Benson went on to play in the NHL and the Falcons remained a part of the Winnipeg sporting scene until WW II.

Honored at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and the 2005 World Juniors, the Winnipeg Falcons remain one of the greatest hockey teams in the history of Canadian sport.

The Falcons were inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1980 and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2006. Fredrickson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958, the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1983 and as coach of the UBC Thunderbirds into the UBC Sports Hall Fame in 2000.