Alex Archer

Alexander "Sandy" Archer (1 May 1911 – 29 July 1997) was an ice hockey right winger who played in the English National League for the Wembley Lions. He is best remembered as a member of the Great Britain national ice hockey team which won gold at the 1936 Winter Olympics (see Ice hockey at the 1936 Winter Olympics).

Sporting career
Archer was born in West Ham, London, England to Scottish parents. They moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada when he was 3-years-old. It was in Manitoba that Archer learned to play ice hockey and football (soccer).

In 1993, Archer was inducted to the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame with the rest of the 1936 Olympic British ice hockey squad who had not previously been inducted.

Club career
Archer returned to England to join the Wembley Lions for the 1935–36 season. He played for the Lions for the next five seasons scoring a total of 82 goals and 77 assists.

Due to a fractured skull Archer's playing career came to an end in 1945 and he became a coach – first for Wembley and then for Nottingham Panthers and Murrayfield Racers. As a successful coach he was selected to coach the All-star B Team in 1947 and then again in 1948.

International career
Archer was selected to play for the Great Britain team at the 1936 Winter Olympics. However, this led to a complaint from the Canadian Hockey Association to the International Ice Hockey Federation as they claimed he had not been released from the Association. Initially upheld by the International Ice Hockey Federation, the complaint was suspended for the duration of the tournament and subsequently overturned. He went on to play in all seven of the games of the tournament and scored two goals.

Archer won two further medals with the GB team, winning silver medals at the 1937 and 1938 Ice Hockey World Championships. Archer retired from ice hockey in 1945 after he received a fractured skull in a game for GB against Sweden.

Archer played 24 times for GB, scoring 14 goals and 10 assists.

Awards

 * Olympic gold medalist in 1936.
 * World championship silver medalist in 1937 and 1938.
 * Named to the English National League All-star A Team in 1938, 1939 and 1940.
 * Named as coach to the English National League All-star B Team in 1947 and 1948.
 * Inducted to the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.