Brian James Pockar
November 27, 1959-April 28, 1992
Cylla von Tiedemann photograph
Born in Alberta, Brian Pockar got his start in figure skating at the Calgary Winter Club. He made his national debut at the 1972 Canadian Championships at the age of twelve. During his illustrious career, he won three gold and three silver medals in the senior men's event at the Canadian Championships, represented Canada at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid and won the bronze medal at the 1982 World Championships in Copenhagen. In 1979, he made history at the World Championships in Vienna as the first skater to land the unusual one-foot triple Salchow/double flip combination in international competition. Turning professional in 1982, he competed on the Pro-Skate circuit and won the 1984 World Professional Championships in Jaca, Spain and 1986 U.S. Open Professional Championship in Rochester, Minnesota. He also toured with Stars On Ice and Robin Cousins' "Electric Ice", worked as a colour commentator for CTV and appeared in the television specials "Romeo and Juliet On Ice" and "The Magic Planet". He choreographed the figure skating performances in the closing ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary. He passed away on April 28, 1992 at the age of thirty-two. After Brian's death, the Brian J. Pockar Skating Endowment Fund was established and a calendar was sold to raise funds for the Agape Manor Hospice, AIDS Calgary and the CANFAR National Network.
Right photo courtesy Toronto Public Library
Memories of Brian from Patti Cooke: "Brian was my best friend and I moved to Toronto with him in 1983. I have so many memories of both he and Rob McCall. When Rob became ill the skating world and friends rallied around him, not realizing that Brian was also ill. He kept his illness quiet, except for his family and only told me the year before he passed. When he went home to Calgary he came down the escalator at the airport to greet his mother Norma and told her that 'this was the last stop on the train.'... What I would point out is that he took his professional career very seriously and treated it like a day to day job. He was fortunate to turn pro at a time when there was a plethora of plumb skating jobs and he was able to transition smoothly to a professional career. He made sure he was well trained, in good physical condition and that the business side of his career was well taken care of. Having said that, we all teased him about how cheap he was and he was unapologetic about it.. He started to wear a red bow tie during the broadcasting [with CTV] and Johnny [Esaw] hated it. Brian was extremely stubborn and wore that red tie continually... much to Johnny's chagrin. It became a joke... He fought through his illness privately when our gang was all about supporting Bobby (McCall) through his sickness. There isn't a skating soul who would disagree that Brian Pockar carried himself with of class and dignity. His good looks were a given."
Brian Pockar, Patti Cooke and Rob McCall. Photo courtesy Patti Cooke.
Excerpt from an article about Brian's legacy from The Calgary Herald: "The Calgary-born son of Yugoslavian refugees from the Second World War, Pockar was a versatile athlete who excelled at diving, tennis, badminton, gymnastics and bowling, as well as skating. With his olive skin, black hair and cinder-burning eyes, he looked like the romantic lead in a silent movie. 'Brian had it all -- talent, looks, even a perfectly placed mole on his cheek,' his sister Leanne told the Herald shortly after Pockar's death. 'But he was uncomfortable about his good looks.' Pockar received his first pair of skates for his ninth birthday and took his first spins around the ice at the Calgary Winter Club. Figure skating coach Winnie Silverthorne watched him, then approached his parents. She suggested the self-proclaimed 'little daredevil' should forget about hockey, which he really wanted to play, and focus on a sport which then attracted few boys. Winnie became his skating coach for the next 12 years.
It took about five years for Pockar to become a championship contender. At first, he regarded skating competitions as little more than 'a neat way to skip school.' By the time he was 16, however, he had won his first international medal - a bronze at the Junior World Championships - 'and I decided that I wasn't going to be last ever again.' In 1978, at age 18, he glided from the sheltered ice of the Winter Club to the first of his three Canadian senior men's championships. He captured bronze medals at both the 1981 and 1982 world championships. Then, at age 22, he retired. No one could have been more disappointed than his father. As a Yugoslavia native, Lojz Pockar had looked forward to seeing his son skate in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Brian, however, had successively lost two Canadian titles to the more acrobatic Brian Orser, and been laid low by appendicitis and stress fractures in his left leg. It was time to move on. With his good looks and smooth voice, not to mention his knowledge of the sport, Pockar was well suited for his job as CTV figure-skating color commentator. He directed the skating segment in the closing ceremonies of the Calgary Winter Olympics, and worked professionally as a freelance star in various touring ice shows. In early 1992, he returned to Calgary after 10 years in Toronto. He had battled his illness for years, and wanted to spend the last part of his life among family and friends, in the place where he was born. He had wanted to visit schools, and talk to young people about AIDS. But he worried about possible backlash. 'His career was affected, and he wanted his privacy,' said his sister Leanne, who has since made TV commercials urging AIDS awareness. Brian died at the Foothills Hospital on April 28, 1992. On his fridge, Leanne found a note: 'The true joy of life is in the trip. Relish the moment. Regret and fear rob us of today.'"
*Source for inclusion: "Friends mourn death of Pockar", Allan Maki and Mario Toneguzzi, The Calgary Herald, April 30, 1992
