When the Olympic torch arrives in Toronto next Thursday, December 17, a former TTC employee will travel by streetcar to carry the flame along College Street.
During the Olympic Torch Relay to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Murray Dowey will receive the torch at Yonge and College Streets at about 6:16 p.m. next Thursday, board a westbound TTC car and proceed along College Street to Elizabeth Street.
“A Torontonian who served his city well at the Olympics and in his 44 years with the TTC, Murray Dowey is an inspired choice for torchbearer,” Toronto Mayor David Miller said. “This is also a unique opportunity to showcase one of the special features of Toronto life, since he will be transporting the flame by streetcar, a true Toronto icon.”
Dowey, 83, is one of the few remaining living members of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Flyers, the gold-medal-winning men’s ice hockey team that represented Canada 61 years ago at the 1948 St. Moritz Winter Olympic Games.
The 22-year-old goaltender, then working for the Toronto Transit Commission, replaced another goalie, just days before the team was leaving Canada for the Olympics in Switzerland.
Dowey set a standard for Olympic goaltending excellence. He still holds the Olympic records for shutouts, with five, and goals-against, averaging only 0.62 in the eight games that the RCAF Flyers played.
After he returned from the Olympics, Murray went back to work as a superintendent for the TTC, until he retired. Murray worked for the TTC for 44 years, from the age of 16 until he was 60.
Dowey also carried the Olympic torch during the relay to the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.
You can find out more about the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver here.
You can view the VANOC (Vancouver Olympics Committee) interactive map of the Olympic Torch Relay here.
You can see a map of the relay route in Toronto here. (.pdf)
You can find out more about Murray Dowey here.
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