DODSON, George
(1941- )
[Top] With Victoria, 1965 Brown Trophy, Prince Alfred Park, Sydney (with a young Norm Mcleod on right). [Middle] With the Brisbane Blackhawks, 1964. [Beneath] Minding net for the Brisbane Blackhawks, Mowbray Park Ice Rink, Brisbane, 1960. Courtesy George Dodson.
CAREER SUMMARY
Birth
October 14th 1941
London England GB
Clubs
Harringay, QIHA Brisbane Redwings, QIHA Brisbane Blackhawks, VIHA Blackhawks, Johns-Manville (Toronto Commercial League)
Goodall Cups
Nil
World Championships
Nil Ice Hockey
Founding state goaltender
State referee-in-chief
BORN OCTOBER 14TH 1941 IN LONDON ENGLAND, "Goose" Dodson played junior hockey for the Harringay club, and at 15 immigrated to Australia with his family in September 1957. A contemporary of Keith Messenger and the Nixon brothers, John and Eric, he was able to continue skating at the Mowbray Park ice rink in Brisbane, owned by the pioneering Messenger family.
In 1958, Dodson and his brother, Fred, were among the group of prospective players who started the state's first ice hockey league. They played against scratch teams from the crews of warships visiting Brisbane from the USA and Canada, and arranged games through the leagues in New South Wales and Victoria. The squad from HMCS St Croix in the early 1960s included goalie Ernie Howe, brother of NHL legend Gordie Howe. By 1959, Dodson played for the local Redwings, and at 18 in 1960 he joined the Brisbane Blackhawks and the State team.
In 1963, when Queensland was still working for the right to compete in the men's open for the Goodall Cup, Dodson minded net for the state's first official representative team at the newly-opened Prince Alfred Park ice rink in Sydney. The tournament was still a Reserve-grade competition to the Goodall. George's brother Fred also played, and went on to Captain the 1967 State squad.
Later that year, Dodson moved to Victoria where he joined the local Blackhawks club coached by Stan Gray. Over three seasons 1964, '65 and '66 he played 29 Reserve-grade games for the 'Hawks, and 14 in the A-grade with Olympians Ken Wellman, Noel Derrick, Charlie Grandy and Tony Martyr. He represented Victoria in the 1965 Brown Trophy at Prince Alfred Park open-air ice rink, while Olympian Rob Reid and John Gill minded the senior net, then returned to Queensland in 1967. Awarded Best and Fairest for the state, he won a spot on the All Star (All Australian) Team.
After nine seasons, Dodson traveled to Canada in 1968 when he was 26, and joined the Johns-Manville semi-pro hockey team in the Toronto league at Whitby. On his return home in 1973, he played with the Brisbane Blackhawks, spearheaded by Terry Bishop, Peter Nixon and Ray Hess. The Blackhawks were the 1981 Queensland State Champions, and Dodson continued to represent Queensland as first string goalie for a few more years.
George Dodson retired as a player to become senior state referee-in-chief. He retired from the sport in 1984, over a quarter-century on from when he picked up his ice hockey career here. He now lives in Paddington, Queensland. A founding goaltender in the start-up years of Queensland ice hockey, and in the state's early representative teams, Dodson also competed interstate and overseas for many years.
[1] The Mowbray Park ice rink opened in a converted picture theatre at Shafston Avenue on Kangaroo Point in Brisbane c1957. The 34 members registered to play ice hockey were quick to represent their state against scratch teams from visiting warships from North America. The number of player registrations in the state almost tripled over the next 5 years.
[2] According to official histories, and the accounts of Syd Tange, the Brown Trophy commenced in 1964. But really it began a year earlier during this 1963 Carnival hosted at Prince Alfred Park in Sydney, and NSW won the inaugural event. An Australian team of seventeen players chosen from the contestants competed in the Olympic ice hockey playoffs in Tokyo later that year, where Japan won the right with fifteen other nations to compete in ice hockey at the Innsbruck Games.
Inaugural Brown Trophy Teams, Prince Alfred Park Sydney
Queensland (maroon)
Ed Mustar, R Wise, George Dodson, P Maynard, John Nixon, N Maddern, D Oliver, J Ritchie, J Bomermein, S Farrar, J Zeilstra, E Hilton, N Checkalin, W Edge, Frank Dodson, Eric Nixon, A Gillard (Coach)
NSW (light blue and white)
Keith Wilmott, Barry Bourke, Keith Walford, Brian Christenson, John Molnar, Don Rowston, Keith Adam, Bill Alway, Ray Parsons, Greg Butler, Jim Jones, Richard Pterson, Brian Bruce, Bob Meynell, Noel McLeod, Brian Woods, Ken Ezzey, Harry Cameron (Coach).
Referees panel:
Benny Acton, Syd Tange, Vic Mansted, Roy Philpot.
[3] Spanning one dozen seasons from inception at Mowbray Park Ice Rink in Brisbane in 1963, to Toombul Ice Rink in 1974, the Oliver Shield is the oldest silverware of the Queensland Ice Hockey association. Now in the hands of Peter Nixon, three of his family members are represented in three different clubs. His uncle, Eric Nixon, with the Falcons in 1963, '64 and '66; his father, John Nixon with the Redwings in 1965 and '74; and Peter himself with the Maple Leafs in 1973, his first season of senior hockey. There was no hockey in the missing years between the Mombray Park rink folding and the Toombul rink opening c1971.
Ross Carpenter, 'Dodson, George (1941- )', Legends of Australian Ice, Melbourne, Australia, http://icelegendsaustralia.com/legends-2/bio_dodson.html, accessed online .
With the Brisbane Redwings
Brisbane, 1959. Courtesy George Dodson.
Queensland Men's Ice Hockey Team
Probably a Brown Trophy squad, Brisbane, Qld, c1960. Courtesy George Dodson.
Queensland State Ice Hockey Team
Brisbane, 1963. Courtesy Heidi Dredge.
Best and Fairest awards
Australian Ice Hockey Championship (Brown Trophy), 1963. Courtesy George Dodson.
HMCS St Croix v Queensland
Mowbray Park ice rink, Brisbane, c1963. Courtesy George Dodson. Ernie is standing behind the goalie in the light coloured jacket.
Ernie Howe
Brother of NHL Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe, in net for HMCS St Croix, Mowbray Park ice rink, Brisbane, c1963. Courtesy George Dodson.
First Speed Skating Trophy
Queensland's first speed skating race on ice, Warana Festival, 3 October 1963, Brisbane, Qld. Courtesy George Dodson.
First Queensland state jersey (front)
First Queensland state jersey (front), Brisbane, Qld, 1963. Courtesy George Dodson.
First Queensland state jersey (back)
First Queensland state jersey (front), Brisbane, Qld, 1963. Courtesy George Dodson.
With Victoria, 1965 Brown Trophy
Prince Alfred Park, Sydney. Courtesy George Dodson. On left, from left: Ron Mann, John Brooks, Ray "Tack", Dick Mann, Norm McLeod, Fred Dodson. Front: George Dodson. On right: John Brooks, George Dodson, Norm McLeod, Ron Mann.
Victoria Brown Trophy Team
VIHA, Melbourne, Victoria, 1965. Courtesy George Dodson.
Queensland Brown Trophy Team
Brisbane, Qld, 1973. Courtesy George Dodson.
With Brisbane Blackhawks
Brisbane, Qld, 1981. Courtesy Peter Nixon and George Dodson.
Having fun with friends.
Brisbane, undated. Courtesy George Dodson.
Officiating Team Australia 1
First National Junior Team v Canberra Knights, Phillip ice rink, Canberra, 1983. Courtesy George Dodson.
Officiating Team Australia 2
First National Junior Team v Canberra Knights, Phillip ice rink, Canberra, 1983. Courtesy George Dodson.
Officiating Team Australia 3
First National Junior Team v Canberra Knights, Phillip ice rink, Canberra, 1983. Courtesy George Dodson.
Officiating Team Australia 4
First National Junior Team v Canberra Knights, Phillip ice rink, Canberra, 1983. Courtesy George Dodson.
Olympic Solidarity course certificate
Presented to George Dodson, Olympic Solidarity Commission under the auspices of the Australian Olympic Committee, Sydney, April 23 to 26 1982. Courtesy George Dodson.