Biography

It wasn't until he was in his thirties that Juckes started an administrative career in hockey that made him such an influential person in his native province and, indeed, worldwide. Prior to the Second World War, he worked for a small newspaper called the Melville Advance and later enlisted in the Royal Canadian Artillery. He served with such distinction that in 1946 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire. Juckes returned to Melville and worked for the local hockey team, the Millionaires, for two years. He then was made president of the Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League and also worked his way up in the executive of the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association from 1949 to 1954. Juckes turned his interests to national efforts and started working for the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, the governing body for all amateur hockey in the country. He was made its president in 1959, a post he held for one year until taking over as secretary-manager. In all, Juckes served the CAHA some two decades until his retirement in 1978. Juckes was vital to the introduction of the world junior championship, and throughout his career he was honoured in many ways. In 1967, he received the IIHF Diploma of Honour. In 1976, he was given the CAHA's Meritorious Award and lifetime membership to the SAHA. In 1979, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and he sat on the executives of both Hockey Canada (formerly CAHA) and the Canadian Olympic Association (COA). After his death in 1994, Hockey Canada introduced the Gordon Juckes Memorial Trust to be given annually to a worthy team or individual.