From the River, the Rails, and the Rinks: The Lives of Three Hockey Men

An interesting look into the lives of Harry Oliver, Bill Juzda and Nick Mickoski.

The story of hockey has often been told through its brightest stars and championship dynasties. But just as important are the men who skated in the shadows of history — those who fought battles on the ice, behind the scenes, and in their own lives to help build the game into what it is today.

For Harry Oliver, Bill Juzda, and Nick Mickoski, three Manitobans who carved unique paths through the sport, hockey was never just about fame or fortune. It was about survival, pride, and an enduring love of the game that refused to leave them even decades after retirement.

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Harry Oliver: River Ice to the Big Leagues

Long before indoor arenas dotted every prairie town, kids learned the game on frozen rivers. For Harry Oliver of Selkirk, the Red River was his rink and his training ground. “When I was a kid there was no organized hockey,” he recalled late in life. “We just went out and played, sometimes on an outdoor rink, but mostly on the river.”

That raw, self-taught game carried him all the way to Boston, where he became one of the city’s early hockey heroes. The Bruins’ fans took to him immediately. “The fans were pretty nice to us,” he said. “They respected us. Lots of them seemed to know us. Boston was an old hockey town. I liked playing there, but I always came home.”

His career stretched from the 1920s into the mid-1930s, an era when players juggled their love of hockey with financial uncertainty. By the end, Oliver was making $5,000 to $6,000 a year, a solid wage during the Depression when breadlines stretched around city blocks.

But hockey in those days was not all glamour. When Oliver was traded to the New York Americans, he landed on a team owned by Bill Dwyer, one of Prohibition’s biggest bootleggers. Though rumors swirled of wild parties and mob connections, Oliver insisted players saw none of it. “We just did as we were told,” he said. “Do this and do that. We didn’t come into contact with Mr. Dwyer very much.”