Falcons Forever

Falcons Forever: The Saga of the 1920 Olympic Gold Medal Ice Hockey Team chronicles the Winnipeg Falcons’ journey to the VII Olympiad in Antwerp, Belgium. The team was composed of young Icelandic men, except for one, all first generation Canadians, who had come of age in Winnipeg’s West End. Many had just returned from fighting in World War I, and had to overcome discrimination and other challenges to play the game they loved.

Author Cathie Eliasson, granddaughter of Falcons’ defenseman Konrad “Konnie” Johannesson, mined her grandmother’s trove of newspaper articles collected in 1919 to 1920 to write this team tribute. She skillfully uses the material to bring the players’ voices to the page one hundred years after the Falcon’s illustrious victory, bringing home the gold—and Canada’s first ever medal for Olympic hockey. Falcons Forever is brimming with historic photos and vivid storytelling, providing a fresh perspective on this fascinating time in hockey history.