In slightly over a month, numerous Canadians will come together to witness ice hockey at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games. Among the 12 nations contending for gold on the men’s side, Italy is one, while the host country’s women’s team is one of eight in the running. What may not be common knowledge among fans is the strong historical connection between Italy’s hockey program and Canada, particularly northern Ontario.
Aldo Maniacco, a native of Sault Ste. Marie who passed away last year, was one of several players from the region who represented Italy on its men’s Olympic team in 1956. This marked the first time the country hosted the Games, which also took place 70 years ago in Cortina d’Ampezzo. In the lead-up to the 1956 Games, Italian heritage players from Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins, and Thunder Bay were scouted by Italy’s national team in a bid to field a competitive squad.
These players obtained Italian passports and relocated to their ancestral homeland, aspiring to excel in professional sports and compete on the global stage. Many of the northern Ontario players, including Carmen Tucci, Bernie Tomie, and Ron Furlani, made it onto the Olympic team in 1956. Others like Florio Guarda and Ron Dotter also migrated to Italy to pursue hockey careers but did not secure spots on the Olympic roster.
The descendants of Aldo Maniacco are actively preserving the legacy of these athletes, known as the Cortina Canadians, to ensure their contributions to hockey history are remembered. His granddaughter, Brye-Anne Maniacco, alongside Bill O’Donnell, is researching the team’s history with the goal of producing a comprehensive documentary in the future.
Italy’s hockey team finished the 1956 Olympics in seventh place out of 10 teams, marking the country’s best Olympic performance in the sport. Despite a challenging start, where they tied with Austria and Germany and lost to Canada, the team rebounded in the consolation round, winning all three remaining games.
Following a decision to exclude North Americans from Italy’s national team in the 1964 Olympics, the team struggled, finishing 14th out of 15 teams. However, two decades later, players of Italian descent from North America were reintegrated into Italy’s hockey program, with strong representation from northern Ontario.
The legacy of the Cortina Canadians endures, with players like Tom Milani, Robert De Piero, Gene Ubriacco, and John Parco continuing to make significant contributions to Italian hockey over the years. Despite most members of the 1956 team being deceased, their impact lives on through their achievements and the memories they have left behind.
With ongoing efforts to secure funding for a documentary on the Cortina Canadians, Maniacco’s family emphasizes that this story is not just a local or regional tale but a significant part of Canadian sports history that should be celebrated nationwide.