The Luso-Canadian Ice Hockey Team that Became Portugal’s Inaugural Opponent

For over a century, hockey has conquered the imagination of millions across Canada. The Portuguese who settled here also fell in love with the nation’s game, but it took nearly forty years for the first hockey team representing the community to be formed. The pioneer was the usual suspect: First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Centre. It was only fitting because, since its foundation in 1956, the organization had consistently played a crucial role in both the formation and the evolution of our community. Ironically, it took the involvement of two generations to make it happen: Mario Corte-Real, a veteran volunteer at First Portuguese, offered leadership and support while his young nephew, Tony Gaspar, provided the talent on the ice along with his friends. Little did they know that their venture would one day journey across the Atlantic, all the way to Portugal. 

It was on an unusually warm Saturday afternoon in February of 2024 that Tony Gaspar drove me to his uncle’s residence so I could learn more about the historical ice hockey team. Gaspar, although a very young man in the days that the squad began to compete, took on a crucial leadership role within the group, a fact that would later pay dividends in ways he could have never imagined. Concurrently, he also played soccer for various clubs within Toronto. At the turn of the millennium, he became head coach of Gil Vicente FC of Toronto. Later, he also managed teams such as Sporting FC and Peniche CC of Toronto.

As we arrived at Mario Corte-Real’s home, my only intention was to learn about the famed squad, but I also came to know the story of a man who has given much of his life to the Portuguese community in Toronto. His involvement in volunteer work includes roles such as board member and vice-president of culture and recreation at First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Centre (FPCCC). He was also one of the founders of Associação 25 de Abril of Toronto, an organization established in 1974 to celebrate Portugal’s historical carnation revolution.

After we sat at Corte-Real’s kitchen table, I was presented with many pictures and other memorabilia from times past, a rich collection of memories that deserve to be shared for the good of our heritage in Canada. Although Corte-Real showed much pride in many of his accomplishments throughout the years, the ice hockey team remains one of the highlights of his commitment to our community. Funny thing is that it all happened by chance.

“I had a house on Crawford, and I often witnessed Tony and his friends playing hockey in the driveway, at the entrance to my garage. I was a member of the Board at First Portuguese, and I asked the boys if they wanted to join First. They said yes. That’s when the ice hockey team began representing First [Portuguese]. They were all adults by then. We started playing in Serie C of the Adult Safe Hockey League”, Corte-Real began telling us before Tony Gaspar interjected: “In the beginning, we didn’t have a coach. Three or 4 of us acted as coaches. We had been playing in the Adult Safe Hockey League for one season before we joined First Portuguese. The name of the team was Panthers. Then my uncle asked if we represented a club and we said that we did not. He asked if we wanted to represent First and we agreed. He became the manager…he took on every role.” It was the year 1990.

First Portuguese’s ice hockey team became Serie C champions that season. “Then we won Serie B and we were promoted to Serie A. After that, Stadium newspaper began covering the team. Sporting, Benfica and the Chiefs, a team representing the Azores, also joined the league,” Gaspar recalled before Corte-Real added: “We competed in the league for about ten years. We had several Portuguese players on the team, and some Irish, Italian and Greek. At one point, we had a lot of spectators at our games. We regularly rented a bus to bring people to the game. We were the first Portuguese ice hockey team. The team also created revenue for the club. Everyone helped and we always gave money to the club at the end of each season.”

Initially, league games were played in Toronto, in an arena named Centre Ice, located on Don Valley and Finch. Later, the competition moved to a location in Scarborough. The squad also traveled to Montreal to compete in local tournaments. In Toronto, they were a regular participant at Peniche CC’s Christmas tournament.

The team had made history in 1990 when it became the first to represent Toronto’s Portuguese community in an official competition, but its most memorable event was still to come. It occurred a decade later, in the year 2000, when it was invited to face Portugal’s national ice hockey team in a three-game series played at Palácio do Gelo (Ice Palace), in Viseu, Portugal. Ironically, when the invitation arrived, neither Gaspar nor Corte-Real were part of the team at the time. While Tony had given way to the younger generation of hockey players, Mario had suffered a major health setback. However, given their history and status within the squad, they were invited to join the group that would embark on the most unforgettable experience.   

“Portugal had a team. I think they played in Spain, in a league, next to the border. They invited us to play there, at Palácio do Gelo, in Viseu. The ice rink was too small, and we could only play with 4 players [plus a goalie]. We were scheduled to play three games, in a best of three series. We won the first two games by a lot. In the Hockey Hall of Fame, you can find the name of the first player who scored the inaugural goal for Portugal against First Portuguese,” Corte-Real informed. Pedro Regado is the player who scored the first ever goal for Portugal’s national ice hockey team at the 8:04 minute-mark of the first period of the first game in the series. The game also marked the first ever international match played by Portugal. It took another fifteen years for Portugal to play another international series.

“Even though I was no longer part of the team, they still invited me to travel with them when the invitation came because I was one of the founders,” Tony recounted to then continue: “There were five or six of us who were Portuguese. It was a great experience. We flew to Lisbon and stayed there one or two nights. We visited Lisbon and, three days later, we traveled to Viseu by bus. In Viseu, we stayed at one of Visabeira’s hotels. The Canadian Ambassador to Portugal was there and the biggest sponsor was Visabeira. It was an experience I never thought would happen. We were interviewed by television stations and newspapers. If you go to Youtube, there is a video called Hockey Night in Portugal and you can see the opening ceremonies there with the flags and the national anthems. We even had an interview with A Bola, which was also published in the magazine [A Bola Magazine]. We felt like professionals, and we never expected to be treated as such.”

First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Centre (FPCCC) won the first game 18-6 and the second 21-5. For the third game, the organizers decided to include the Portuguese players who were part of FPCCC on Portugal’s national team. It was a more even match, but FPCCC won again, this time 15-11.

Upon their return to Canada, First Portuguese’s hockey team competed one more season at the Adult Safe Hockey League. It folded permanently in 2001. It had been officially inaugurated in 1990.

Over two decades later, Gaspar and Corte-Real still beam at the memory of the heyday of First Portuguese’s hockey squad. Although the team has perpetually been relegated to the realms of history, there is extreme satisfaction for the legacy it created. The trip to Portugal remains the highlight, but there are other crucial marks that the team carved in the hockey landscape of the Greater Toronto Area, as Tony Gaspar recounts: “Adult Safe Hockey League can thank First Portuguese for what it is today, because we gave it relevance with a lot of media coverage from Stadium newspaper and then TV stations.”

Throughout its 12 years of existence, FPCCC’s ice hockey team won championships in all divisions of the Adult Safe Hockey League (ASHL). It also propelled the very little-known league into the biggest amateur adult hockey league in North America. The series played in Viseu against the Portuguese national ice hockey team remains the climax of a short but remarkable history, as it marked the first ever international series played by Portugal. Above all, it signified recognition for a team that had further contributed to the integration of the Portuguese community into Canadian culture and society by actively engaging in the nation’s most beloved game.

You can peruse through the links below to learn more about the three-game series played between Portugal’s National Ice Hockey Team and First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Centre at Palácio do Gelo, Viseu, in June of 2000.

https://internationalhockey.fandom.com/wiki/Portuguese_National_Team

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal_men%27s_national_ice_hockey_team

https://youtu.be/gZhoGq0C6f0?si=Y1Y5ZCsiZ-eTNsZ_

Portugal