Kitchener–Waterloo in Eighty-Two. 1982.

The city of Kitchener–Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, hosted the 1982 Skate Canada event, which saw 44 skaters from 12 nations come together in early fall for the beginning of the 1982–83 season. In a foreshadowing of the famed “Battle of the Brians” that would take place less than six years later at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, America’s Brian Boitano also would get the better of Canada’s Brian Orser at Skate Canada. In fact, it was an American sweep of the gold medals in men, ladies, and ice dance in Kitchener–Waterloo. (And if “Kitchener–Waterloo in Eighty-Two” was not the tagline for 1982 Skate Canada, perhaps it should have been.)

Like the previous eight Skate Canada events, the 1982 Skate Canada competition was commemorated with two enamel pins that carried the by-then-familiar stylized skater logo—the event brand, if you will. The 1982 event went one further and issued a cut-out version of the skater logo as a pin. All three pins are shown in the gallery below.

For 1982, the main pin, available for purchase at the event, was produced in a vertical design, differing from the horizontal-style pin issued in Ottawa the year prior. The skater logo, used in red, stands off well from an all-white background while a red border neatly encloses everything. Below the logo are the event location, name, and year: “Kitchener–Waterloo, Skate Canada 82.” A red maple leaf punctuates the design, bringing both balance and visual interest. Nicely done. The pin measures approximately 3/4″ x 1-1/16″ (1.9 cm x 2.9 cm).

The stylized skater logo, used in red, stands off well from an all-white background while a red border neatly encloses everything.

Competitors and others at 1982 Skate Canada were presented with a larger pin, near-identical in design and shape to the smaller version. The main difference is treatment of the event location, which is in gold lettering, and event name, which is in black lettering outlined in gold. Producing a larger pin, typically limited in distribution and not available to the public, was common during the early Skate Canada events. The large version measures approximately 1-3/8″ x 1-7/8″ (3.5 cm x 4.8 cm) and is impressive. The main logo pin is on a silver-colored base metal with enamel fills while the larger pin is on a gold-colored base metal.

Availability of the third pin—the Skate Canada logo in a cut-out shape—and who received it is somewhat of mystery. The pin shown in the gallery was acquired from the collection of a well-known, many-times Canadian national champion of the 1980s. In more than 40 years of collecting, The Curator of The Netropolitan has seen this pin only once, making it safe to believe it is a limited-production version given only to selected individuals at 1982 Skate Canada. The pin is made of a gold-colored metal and measures approximately 1″ x 1″ (2.5 cm x 2.5 cm).

Enjoy Kitchener–Waterloo in Eighty-Two. 1982.