Robert Dale Matt Peterson (born April 14, 1944) is a professional Canadian photographer and publisher of Paralympics: Where Heroes Come (1988), the first book written about the history of the Paralympic Games. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Peterson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He attended the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, and graduated in 1965 from that institution's first class of Photography.
Peterson worked for the Edmonton Journal, CFRN-TV, and as a freelance photographer. He was the Official Photographer for the Edmonton Eskimos football team from 1975 to 1983, and for the Edmonton Drillers soccer team from 1981 to 1982.
Peterson photographed Wayne Gretzky in his first two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers hockey team, first with the World Hockey Association, and then with the National Hockey League. [7] These include shots of Gretzky and Gordie Howe in the 1979 WHA All-Star series, the only time these two ever played together. [8]
He served as Coordinator of Photography for Universiade '83 in Edmonton. He served as Official Photographer for the Canadian Paralympic Committee at the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games, and for the International Paralympic Committee at the Paralympic Games in Tignes-Albertville in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, and Nagano in 1998. [9]
As a result of his experience with disabled sports at the Paralympics, [10] he published the book Paralympics: Where Heroes Come. [11] The book has been distributed to 69 countries, and with the help of the Franklin Foundation [12] and the Soldier On! program was given to injured Canadian soldiers returning from Afghanistan.
In 2003, Peterson's images were featured in an exhibit titled The Rookie at the Royal Alberta Museum. [13]
In 2019, Peterson donated 9600 images to the Hockey Hall of Fame. [14]
Wayne Douglas Gretzky is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One", he has been called the greatest ice hockey player ever by many sportswriters, players, The Hockey News, and by the NHL itself, based on extensive surveys of hockey writers, ex-players, general managers and coaches. Gretzky is the leading goal scorer, assist producer and point scorer in NHL history, and has more career assists than any other player has total points. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 15 professional seasons, 13 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records.
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which opened in 2016. Their current head coach Jay Woodcroft was hired on February 11, 2022, and Ken Holland was named as the general manager on May 7, 2019. The Oilers are one of two NHL franchises based in Alberta, the other being the Calgary Flames; their close proximity to each other has led to a fierce rivalry known as the "Battle of Alberta".
Events from the year 1978 in Canada.
Mark John Douglas Messier is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre of the National Hockey League (NHL). His playing career in the NHL lasted 25 years (1979–2004) with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. He also played professionally with the World Hockey Association (WHA)'s Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers. He also played a short 4 game stint in the original Central Hockey League with the Houston Apollos in 1979. He was the last former WHA player to be active in professional hockey, and the last active player in any of the major North American professional sports leagues to have played in the 1970s. After his playing career, he served as special assistant to the president and general manager of the Rangers.
Grant Scott Fuhr is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League and former goaltending coach for the Arizona Coyotes, who played for the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s during which he won the Stanley Cup five times.
Peter Hugh Pocklington is a entrepreneur and vocal advocate of free-market capitalism.
Glen Cameron “Slats” Sather is a Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive. He is the current senior advisor and alternate governor of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the Rangers' general manager until stepping down on July 1, 2015, and then served as their president until April 4, 2019.
Walter Gretzky, was a Canadian philanthropist who was best known as the father of Canadian ice hockey icon Wayne Gretzky.
The Edmonton Oil Kings were a Canadian junior ice hockey team, and founding member of the Western Hockey League. They played at Edmonton Gardens in Edmonton, Alberta, and later Northlands Coliseum. In 1976, they moved to Portland, Oregon to become the Portland Winter Hawks. A second incarnation of the team played only one season in 1977–78 before moving to Great Falls, Montana.
David John Semenko was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, scout and colour commentator. During his National Hockey League (NHL) career, Semenko played for the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers and Toronto Maple Leafs as an enforcer. During his tenure with Edmonton, he notably protected Wayne Gretzky as an "on-ice bodyguard" during Gretzky's early career. Semenko won two Stanley Cups with the Oilers in 1984 and 1985. He was also the last player to score a goal in the World Hockey Association (WHA) before it folded and merged with the NHL.
Joseph Neil Moss was a Canadian dressing room attendant for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League and the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. Born with Down syndrome, he struck up a friendship with Wayne Gretzky in the mid-1980s, when the latter was playing for the Oilers and dating Moss's sister. Gretzky advised the team to give Moss a tryout as locker room attendant. He ultimately held that position for over three decades, until his death in 2020.
Denis Joseph Germain Stanislaus Brodeur was a Canadian photographer, acknowledged as one of hockey's finest photographers and was the father of New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur, the National Hockey League's winningest goaltender. He was the official photographer for the Montreal Canadiens for many years, and co-published a book entitled Goalies: Guardians of the Net in 1996, which features his son Martin on the front cover.
The 1988 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1987–88 season, and the culmination of the 1988 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins. The Oilers would win the series in a four game sweep to win their fourth championship. This was the seventh of nine consecutive Finals contested by a team from Western Canada, sixth of eight by a team from Alberta, and the last of five consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice. The series is remembered for the power failure that occurred during game four at Boston Garden, which caused that game to be suspended. The league decided to replay game four at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, at the site, date and time that was originally scheduled for game five. Game 5 is also the final time that Wayne Gretzky appeared in an Edmonton Oilers uniform as he was traded to Los Angeles just prior to the next season.
The 1985 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1984–85 season, and the culmination of the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the defending champion Edmonton Oilers and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Oilers won the best-of-seven series, four games to one, to win their second Stanley Cup. It was also the sixth straight Finals contested between teams that joined the NHL in 1967 or later. Until 2022, this was also the last time that a team, defending champion, or runner-up appeared in the Finals for the third straight season. This was the fourth of nine consecutive Finales contested by a team from Western Canada, third of eight contested by a team from Alberta, and the second of five consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice. Game five of this series was played on May 30, which at the time was the latest finishing date for an NHL season. The record was broken two years later.
The 1988–89 Los Angeles Kings season, was the Kings' 22nd season in the National Hockey League. It saw the Kings finish second in the Smythe Division with a record of 42–31–7, for 91 points.
Wayne Gretzky Drive is a freeway in Edmonton, Alberta. Originally Capilano Drive/Capilano Freeway, it was officially renamed October 1, 1999, after NHL hockey player Wayne Gretzky, as a tribute to his years with the Edmonton Oilers. The same day, Wayne Gretzky's number 99 jersey was retired at the Skyreach Centre, which lies just west of Wayne Gretzky Drive, at 118 Avenue. 66/75 Street is a major arterial road in east Edmonton which serves residential and industrial areas.
Robert Daniel Steadward, is a Canadian retired sports administrator, professor, sports scientist, and author. Steadward helped organize the first Canadian wheelchair sport national championships in 1968, and later coached Canada in wheelchair basketball at the Summer Paralympics. He became a professor at the University of Alberta in 1971, later served as chairman of the Department of Athletics, and published more than 150 papers about disability sport. He was the founding president of the Alberta Wheelchair Sports Association in 1971, founded the Research and Training Centre for Athletes with Disabilities in 1978, served as president of the Canadian Paralympic Committee from 1984 to 1990, and later became a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, dedicated to the preservation and history of sports within the province. It was created in 1957 by the Alberta Amateur Athletic Union (AAAU). The museum was eventually taken over by Sport Alberta in 1973 when the AAAU ceased operations. It has been maintained by the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum Society since 1997. The first permanent display for the Hall of Fame was established in Edmonton in 1962. The museum relocated between Edmonton and Calgary on numerous occasions until settling in Red Deer in 1999.
Terry Jones, nicknamed Large or Jonesy, is a Canadian journalist and author based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is currently a sports columnist with the Edmonton Sun.