1984 – CANADA 8, AUSTRIA 1
Being the youngest to ever play for Canada at an Olympic Winter Games
wasn’t enough for Kirk Muller, he needed to be the youngest to score a
goal, which he did – two, in fact – to lead Canada over Austria.
One day after his 18th birthday, Muller scored the eventual game-winner on
the power play 12 minutes into the first period, and made it 3-0 just 13
seconds into the second; that goal remains the third-fastest to start a
period in Canadian Olympic history.
“We had a great group of guys,” Muller recalls. “We were young and had a
good mix of both junior and college guys bonding together quickly. We all
had the same passion and shared the same goal; to do well over at the
Olympics.
“Back then Carey Wilson and Pat Flatley were sort of the veteran guys
because they had some experience playing university hockey down in the
States and all. It’s funny to say that those were veterans since they were
only 20-something years old.”
Wilson had a goal and an assist in the win over Austria, while Flatley
added a helper for the Canadians, who scored the game’s first six goals.
Dave Donnelly, Bruce Driver, Dave Tippett, Dave Gagner and Craig Redmond
had the other goals for Canada, which won its second game in as many days
to open the Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
Muller, now the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, remembers the 1984
Olympics as a stepping stone towards developing his skills as both a player
and coach. “Dave King was ahead of his time in many of his coaching
techniques. He was big on the X’s and O’s, video and training methods.”
When asked if he thought any Canadian hockey player would ever take part in
the Olympics at a younger age than him, Muller chuckled. “It’s hard to rule
it out because there’s always going to be that next superstar that will
roll along and make it hard not to include him.”
OTHER GAMES
1932 – Canada blanked Poland for the second time in three days in the
four-team double round robin, scoring a 10-0 win to improve to a perfect
5-0 in Lake Placid. Stanley Wagner earned the shutout in his first Olympic
start.
1968 – Morris Mott scored four times – the most recent four-goal game by a
Canadian – and Fran Huck added two to help Canada bounce back from a loss
and rout East Germany 11-0. The Canadians racked up 51 shots on goal, their
fifth-most ever in a single game.
1998 – Chinese goaltender Hong Guo made 38 saves, but second-period goals
from Danielle Goyette and Vicky Sunohara were enough to lead Canada to a
2-0 preliminary round win. Manon Rhéaume needed to make just eight saves
for the shutout.