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| Mario Gosselin tending goal for the 1984 Canadian Olympic team. |
It could have been because of the style he played, or the big games he
played in, but likely the reason Mario Gosselin was one of my favourite goaltenders
of all time was simple: he showed up to play for his country at a time when it
really was a sacrifice to play for the Olympic team.
Sarajevo calling
Gosselin played his junior in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League,
and was a draft pick of the Quebec Nordiques. He was from Thetford Mines, I
always remember that, and was the only one from that town ever to play in the Olympics.
He was just 20 years old when he answered the call to play for Team
Canada. Back then, it was a full-time, on-going commitment. Professionals were
not even allowed in the Olympics, much less the NHL shutting down for two weeks
allowing the best to play.
Instead, aspiring Olympians had to forsake playing pro, live on
hamburger and macaroni and cheese, and play all sorts of exhibition games
leading up to the Olympics.
The Canadian Olympic team had turned a corner by 1984 though. Dave
King had become coach, and he had already tasted success by coaching Canada to
its first ever World Junior Hockey Championship gold medal in 1981. He set his
sights on Olympic gold, and was even able to persuade some of the players from
his junior championship team to come over to the Olympic team.
However, he still needed to anchor that team. Strong goaltending was
essential, and that was most evident in the world champion and Olympic gold
medal favourites from the Soviet Union. Tending goal for them was perhaps the
greatest international goalie in history, Vladislav Tretiak. If Canada hoped to
compete with the likes of the Soviets and the Czechs, they would need strong
goaltending.
Enter Mario Gosselin.
He joined the Olympic team for the 1983-1984 season and would remain
for two years, sharing the goaltending duties with Darren Elliott.
Gosselin played 36 games for the Olympic team, but almost didn’t play
in the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee, the absurd entity it was,
was strict on ensuring athletes were amateurs. Gosselin had signed a
professional contract, and two countries including our old friends from the
United States, wanted him ruled ineligible. However, the IOC ruled that because
Gosselin had not played a professional game, he was eligible for the Olympics.
He emerged as one of the stars of the tournament, backstopping the
Canadians to four straight victories to open the tournament. The medal round
was more complex then, but the net result was that Canada won no games in it,
finishing fourth in the tournament and out of the medals. It was still a solid
accomplishment for a team that had not come that close to a medal in decades.
Turning pro
Mario Gosselin had been selected 55th overall by the Quebec
Nordiques in the 1982 NHL entry draft.
He joined the Nordiques after the Olympics. He made his NHL debut on
Feb. 26, 1984, shutting out the St. Louis Blues by a score of 5-0. It was an
incredible debut. He would appear in three games that season, finishing with a
2-0 record.
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| Mario Gosselin in a familiar stance in goal for the Quebec Nordiques in the mid and late 1980s. |
Rookie season
1984-1985 season would be Gosselin’s rookie season with the Nordiques.
He would appear in 35 games and finish with a 19-11-3 record.
Quebec finished
second in the Adams Division, setting up a date with Buffalo in the first round
of the playoffs. The Nordiques won the best-of-five series 3-2, advancing to
play Montreal in the Adams Division final. The Nordiques finally got the monkey
off their back, defeating the Canadiens 4-3. I recall watching that series
closely as Gosselin was excellent in net. The win set up a showdown in the
Wales Conference Final against the Philaldelphia Flyers. The Nordiques stayed
close, splitting the first four games, but the Flyers took control to win the
next two games, and the series 4-2.
Gosselin played in 17 of the 18 games,
finishing with a record of 9-8. He was the winning goalie in all nine games
Quebec won too.
Battling for playing time
The 1985-1986 season found Mario displaced as the starting goaltender
by Clint Malarchuk. Still,
Gosselin played in 31 games, with a record of 14-14-1. The Nordiques finished
first in the Adams Division, but were swept 3-0 in the opening round by Hartford.
Gosselin got into just one game, playing 40 minutes but allowing five goals.
This proved to be Goselin’s most successful season. He finished second
in fan balloting for the NHL all-star game in Hartford. The top vote getter was
Pelle Lindbergh of the Philadelphia Flyers who had backstopped his team to an
appearance in the Stanley Cup final the year before, that also included a
victory over Quebec. Lindbergh died in a motor vehicle accident eight or so games into the season. Consequently,
on Feb. 4, 1986, Mario Gosselin started for the Wales Conference all-stars, and allowed just one goal in 31 minutes of action. The Wales Conference ultimately won 4-3 in overtime.
Off the bench
Malarchuk was firmly entrenched as the number-one goaltender in the
1986-1987 season. Gosselin did appear in 30 games, for 13-11-1 record and a
team best goals against average of 3.18.
The Nordiques played role reversal
with Hartford as Quebec finished fourth and the Whalers were first in the Adams
Division, setting up a first-round re-match from the previous year. Now,
however, the NHL had moved to a best-of-seven in the first round. Quebec
emerged victorious, winning 4-2. They advanced to play Montreal in the division
final against Montreal, but again the Canadiens won in seven games.
Malarchuk
proved ineffective, going 0-2 in three appearances. Gosselin, on the other
hand, proved he was a money goalie, going 7-4 in 11 games.
Back on top
The Nordiques pulled a blockbuster trade that included sending
Malarchuk to Washington. Gosselin was again handed the number-one job for the 1987-1988 season. In 54
games, he went 20-28-4 with two shut outs. However, Quebec missed the playoffs.
End of an era
Gosselin again saw the most action of the Quebec goaltenders in the
1988-1989 season, going 11-19-3 in 39 games. Once more, the Nordiques missed
the playoffs. After the season, they decided to go in a different direction and
did not renew Gosselin’s contract. The end of the decade brought the end of
Mario Gosselin’s time in Quebec, as he signed a contract with the Los Angeles
kings.
The years after
Gosselin played one year in L.A. then bounced around from Hartford to
the minors and back again, playing sporadically in the NHL until his retirement
after the 1993-1994 season. He had been hampered by injuries throughout his
career, and it was a knee injury that finally forced him to retire. His last
game was on Nov. 27, 1993 against the Florida Panthers.
Parting thoughts
Back in the mid-1980s, CTV signed a contract with the NHL to start
broadcasting games, mostly on Friday nights. It also gave them the broadcast
rights to the Canada Cup. What I distinctly remember about those broadcasts,
beyond breathing relief they had found a legitimate play-by-play man in Dan
Kelley, to replace Ron Reusch, was that we got to see more Nordique games. That’s
when I got to appreciate how good a goalie Mario Goselin was.
However, two
things shortened his career. One was injuries that seemed to dog him. The other
was he was a butterfly-style goaltender. That meant he went down a lot.
Eventually NHL shooters learned to beat the “Goose” they just had to shoot high as he went down.
Yet, none of that is the real reason I loved Mario Gosselin. Instead,
the reason I so liked him was he chose representing his country over playing
professionally. Back then, being on the Olympic team was a full-time
commitment, unlike today where it’s a few weeks during a break in the middle of
the NHL schedule. He played for Team Canada for two years at a time where he
was not allowed to earn any money from playing hockey. I will always have a
special place in my heart for those true Olympians.
Carey Price and Martin Brodeur may be better goalies, but I would be
surprised if either of them would give up their pro contracts
to live hand to mouth for a year or two while playing for the Olympic team.
Mario Goselin did.
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