• Played varsity hockey at UBC for three years (1948-51) and at the U of A for one year, when he led the Golden Bears to the Western Canadian Championship and tied as the team's top scorer.
• In 28 seasons as head coach of the Golden Bears (1958-89), he led the team to six national championships and 17 Canada West titles, finishing his coaching career with 697 wins, 296 losses, and 37 ties for a .695 winning percentage; named CIAU Coach of the Year twice and Canada West Coach of the Year four times.
• The only coach in Canadian intercollegiate sport to lead football and hockey teams to national championships in the same season (1967-68).
• Co-coached the 1980 Canadian Olympic Hockey team; coached the World Student Games Hockey team in 1972 (silver medal), 1981 (gold medal) and 1987 (bronze medal); guided Team Canada to its first ever gold medal at the Spengler Cup in 1984; served on coaching staff with the Edmonton Oilers, the Winnipeg Jets, and the Dallas Stars in the WHA/NHL.
• Named Edmonton's Sportsman of the Year in 1975; inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame & Museum in 1980; inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1989; inducted into the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2014.
• Named to the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2008 and named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2013.
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017
As the "Dean" of intercollegiate hockey coaches, Clare Drake has become synonymous with hockey at the University of Alberta. Possessing an extraordinary knowledge of the game, he has created one of the premier university hockey programs in North America as the Head Coach of the Golden Bears.
Drake attended the University of British Columbia where he played varsity hockey for the Thunderbirds in each of his three years there serving as captain in his final year.
After graduating with a BPE degree from the University of British Columbia in 1951, he married Dolly Carlson who has provided enthusiastic support throughout his career. Clare and Dolly then moved to Edmonton where Clare played one season of hockey with the Golden Bears leading them to the Western Canada Championships as the team co-scoring leader. After earning a B. Ed. at this University he added an M.Sc at the University of Washington and further graduate work at the University of Oregon.
In 1955, while teaching and coaching several teams at Strathcona Composite High School, he rejoined the Bears as interim head coach and won his first league championship. In 1958 he was appointed to the University staff to become the full-time head coach of the Golden Bears. In over twenty-five seasons behind the Alberta bench, Drake has led the Bears to six National Championships and sixteen Canada West Conference Championships. In 1983 he became the first coach in CIAU history to win 500 games, and on October 8, 1985 he made history by becoming the winningest coach in intercollegiate hockey history with his 556th victory. That record has since been extended to include 622 wins at the close of the 1986-87 season.
Besides his role as a hockey coach, he also guided the Golden Bear football team for three seasons in the 1960's, compiling a record of 23-4. In 1967-68 he became the only coach in CIAU history to lead both a football and a hockey team to a national championship. Clare Drake's record is also well known in international hockey circles. He was co-coach of the 1980 Olympic team, coached the Canadian Student National team to a gold medal in the 1981 World Student Games, and silver and bronze medals in 1972 and 1987 respectively. In 1984 he guided Team Canada to their first ever gold medal at the Spengler Cup tournament in Switzerland.
Over the entire span of his work at Alberta, he has provided enlightened leadership to hockey coaching development through contributions to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association course manuals, and through presentations at countless clinics and player development camps across the country. He has conducted coaching workshops and clinics throughout the U.S.A., Europe, the Orient, and Australia, where he is recognized as one of the foremost Canadian authorities on the game. As further testimony to his influence, former players are coaching up to the highest levels in hockey, many holding leading positions in hockey and sport associations, while others lead in their chosen professions.
