Ex-defenseman McDougald dies

Dan McDougald was a gentle giant who “didn’t have an enemy,” said numerous friends on Wednesday, one day after the former Spokane hockey player died at age 79 after a long illness.

McDougald was a defenseman with the Flyers in the mid-‘50s and the Jets in the mid-‘60s, then became one of the game’s biggest boosters in his adopted hometown when his playing days were over.

“When the Jets played in the Allen Cup in the ‘70s, he got the old guys on the ice to welcome the team (at the old Coliseum) and they all wore tuxes and formed an arch with their sticks for the players to enter,” recalled former sportswriter Mike Lynch.

It was a story recounted by others, along with the time that McDougald followed his teammates up to Toronto for the 1957 Allan Cup just to cheer them on after he suffered an injury.

McDougald went on to coach the Gonzaga club hockey team from 1969-73 and became a minority shareholder of the Jets when senior amateur hockey returned to Spokane in the late ‘60s.

In the meantime, McDougald was creating a future for his family in the insurance and travel businesses. After cutting his teeth with Massachusetts Mutual, he started House of Travel, and Fly and Jet airport parking.

McDougald started a tour company in 1974, which took area rodeo fans to National Finals Rodeos in Oklahoma City and Las Vegas until recently. The native of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, came by his affinity for the sport naturally, as he grew up on a ranch and was a cowboy.

But hockey was the true passion of the Canadian Army World War II veteran who played for Ace Bailey at the University of Toronto.

McDougald made his way as an all-star from the rival Trail Smokeaters to become a member of the Spokane Flyers and eventually to the Jets. As some of his teammates went on to pro careers, McDougald hung onto the game with the 1968 West Coast champion intermediate Eagle Electric team.

McDougald was an imposing defenseman who made his presence felt, mostly because of his stature at 6-foot-2 and a solid 210 pounds.

“He was always a good man,” said teammate Ralph Luke, “but when he body checked you – even in practice – you felt it. But he was a clean player.”

As a member of the Smokeaters, McDougald gave future teammate Carl Cirullo a lifelong memory of his playing days.

“We go back a long ways,” recounted Cirullo. “He broke my nose on 1/11/51, a hit with an elbow, after I had it broken 10 days earlier.”

The pair went on to become good friends and play together on various teams, including stints with teams in Rossland and Nelson, British Columbia, where they would commute together.

McDougald was an early member of the Spokane Oldtimers and continued to give back to Spokane hockey.

He had many friends, said longtime friend Tom Hodges, who began as a roommate in the ‘50s and ended up as a neighbor of McDougald in the present.

“There were four of us that batched together at a house on Oak Street,” recalled Hodges. “He worked for Mass Mutual and he’d try out his cold calls on us, knocking on the door. He’d phone us – and we’d give him a bad time. … In the end he had a lot of problems, but he never got down. He’d say, ‘Oh, I’ll be all right.’ I’m sorry to hear (of the death). He’s a good friend and a really nice guy.”

McDougald is survived by Jackie, his wife of nine years, three children and other family members. A funeral service will be held on Monday at 11 a.m. at Hennessey-Smith Funeral Home, 2203 N. Division. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Spokane Grinders hockey club.