The giant Robert: A unique South Tyrolean ice hockey career

“Ice hockey was my life for decades. As a 14-year-old, I was in goal for the first time in 1957/58 for Val Gardena, who were then playing in Serie A. 1976/1977 was my last season,” says South Tyrolean goalkeeper legend Robert Gamper. Today he “only” follows ice hockey through the media. But for many, many years he was right in the middle of it all. “But I still have one wish. “I would like to experience an ice hockey game in the Pusterers’ new ‘Wolf’s Den’,” says Gamper. What he knows so far about the Intercable ice arena makes him really curious.

Gamper made history and shaped South Tyrol's ice hockey like no other: in 1964 he competed in the first Innsbruck Olympics with the azure blue team, in 1966 the Universiade in Turin, in 1973 he was in the second Bozen Serie A championship team and later won titles. After his career ended, he took on a key role in the national association. After leaving Milan, he promoted the promotion of young talent in the South Tyrolean Ice Sports Association. "Everything has it's time. I've experienced ups and downs in ice hockey. I really gave everything and got a lot. It’s only good when younger officials step up and bring a breath of fresh air,” says the now 78-year-old. Val Gardena and Bolzano Robert Gamper's star actually rose in Val Gardena. He matured into a key player at SSV Bozen. Later, in the early 60s, the SSV was the HCB's fiercest rival for a long time. A highlight of the SSV with Vasey, Dell'Antonio, Egger, Bazzanella, Edmund Rabanser, Schrott, Barchetti, Zerbetto, Oberrauch, Zelger, Valduga and Battisti was the 2-1 victory over the Diavoli of Milan, who were considered invincible at the time with Bolla, Nucci, Brivio, Lusena, Crotti, Whittal, Rigamonti, Paracchini and Talamona.

Ice hockey goalie Robert Gamper.

The first writing “ice hockey pope”. Dolomites was Pepi Aussersdorfer. He wrote euphorically in 1963: “… the hero of the evening in this great game was Robert Gamper. He was invincible in front of his wire box and hit all the shots with fantastic saves. Despite his youth, he has an extremely sharp eye and sees the puck. And that is crucial for a goalkeeper. “He was sometimes caught in the crossfire of the Diavoli for minutes, but Gamper could not be defeated.” By the way: Robert Gamper played for SSV Bozen in the top division for three seasons. Use at the Olympic Games So much for Pepi Aussersdorfer. These striking sentences accompanied Robert Gamper for many years in his truly unique career as a goalkeeper who could always be relied on. He always remained true to himself. As an athlete through and through, he earned respect and recognition from his teammates and also from his opponents on the ice. His entire hockey life. The “good giant” was an incredibly reliable support for his team even as he matured. And with hard work and skill he achieved Olympic honors. In 1964, the year of the first Winter Games in Innsbruck, he played together with the unforgettable top player from Val Gardena, Edmund Rabanser, for SSV Bozen, who selected these two SSV top performers. The HCB was only represented by the unique Heini Bacher, who died a few weeks ago and who incidentally scored 2 goals in 8 Olympic games.

<a data-caption="Der HCB im Jahr 1965/66. Stehend: Norbert Koler, Robert Psenner, Zelger, Günther Schrott, Siegfried Dell’Antonio, Siegfried Schlemmer, Heini Bacher, Despard, Franco De Vito, Alberto De Grandi, Arnaldo Vattai, Robert Gamper und Heini Oberdorfer." data-fancybox="inline-95306" target="_image" href="https://s3-images.sportnews.bz/_images/scale/1280x1280/img/2022/01/der-hcb-im-jahr-196566-stehend-norbert-koler-robert-psenner-zelger-guenther-schrott-siegfried-dellantonio-siegfried-schlemmer-heini-bac.jpg"> The HCB in 1965/66. Standing: Norbert Koler, Robert Psenner, Zelger, Günther Schrott, Siegfried Dell'Antonio, Siegfried Schlemmer, Heini Bacher, Despard, Franco De Vito, Alberto De Grandi, Arnaldo Vattai, Robert Gamper and Heini Oberdorfer.

After the merger of SSV Bozen with the HCB, founded in 1933, Robert Gamper changed his jersey in the 1965/66 season, but he remained true to his uncompromising attitude to ice hockey as a fair, competitive team sport. In 1963, the HCB won the first of its 19 Serie A championship titles with goalkeepers Franco Viale and Giuliano “Ciccio” Ferraris. Franco Viale (died in Milan on March 71, 29 at the age of 2014) joined Diavoli Milan in 1965. The position as No. 1 in the HCB goal was therefore vacant; 19-year-old Romeo Tigliani (died on June 8, 2018 in Varese) was not expected to have a long season and the corresponding responsibility as first goalkeeper. Robert Gamper made such a big impact that he was nominated with Werner and Peter Holzner, among others, for the 1966 Universiade in Turin.

“I was always extremely nervous before games. I often felt bad and often had to throw up because of the tension. But once the puck was thrown in, I was able to quickly switch to total concentration,” remembers Gamper. A goalie without a helmet Even in the 60s, ice hockey was not a sport for wimps. Sure, ice hockey wasn't the fighting sport of today. But the equipment was also sometimes adventurous. Robert Gamper played throughout without a face mask. At some point, however, he too had to pay tribute to the IIHF regulations of the international ice hockey association, which at the time was led by the cheerful Irishman John Francis “Bunny” Ahearne, which grew with the speed of the sport. Gamper had a break-proof face mask made to measure at the well-known prosthesis manufacturer Tinti in Bolzano's Weintraubengasse.

Nowadays goalkeepers wear a mesh mask, head and neck protection. Things used to be different, the field players only wore their heads blowing in the wind, the goalkeepers were completely topless. I often saw Robert Gamper in the exhibition hall, the South Tyrolean ice hockey temple par excellence from 1953 to 1993, taking off his flesh-colored Tinti face mask during a critical, hectic game. “In general, things went well in the hall with a mask. But when we played on uncovered ice, as we often did back then, and it was bitterly cold, the face mask froze to the skin. Removing them was often very painful,” remembers Gamper. A long longing Robert Gamper had to wait a long time for his first championship title with the HCB. 10 years after the first triumph in 1963 and 8 (!) consecutive Serie A championship titles for the unbeatable Ampezzan team around Alberto and Gianfranco Da Rin, the time had finally come in 1973. The French-Canadian player-coach Gerard Morin, who came from Liège, led the HCB to a 5-4 victory in the spectacular playoff game against Cortina that moved the whole of South Tyrol. We had to say goodbye to too many of these great players who made ice hockey history. As a reminder, the names of all of Robert Gamper's friends who formed the championship team in 1973: Robert Baumgartner, Giancarlo and Rolly Benvenuti, Roman Blaas, Franco Gallo, Hubert and Georg Gasser, Hans Gasser, Martin Innerebner, Thomas Mair, Gino Pasqualotto, Raimondo Refatti, Günther Schrott, Herbert Strohmaier, Romeo Tigliani and Arnaldo Vattai.

But there was another championship title for Robert Gamper, at the beginning of the brilliant era of Gösta “Lill-Lule” Johansson, from whom we had to say goodbye far too early, on April 10, 1997. Johansson, who is married to the German figure skater Gundi Busch - she had become European champion in the Bolzano exhibition hall in 1953 - won the hotly contested Serie A title three times. The end of the 1977 season also marked the end of active sports and the incomparable career of Robert Gamper.

Robert Gamper today: “I’m a full-time grandfather.”

“Yes, it was a beautiful, exciting time and I don’t want to miss a minute of it,” says Robert Gamper today. In those years, not everything that glittered was gold. “I have met a lot of great people through sport, and unfortunately I had to say goodbye to some of them. I fondly remember the battles with Heini Oberdorfer, Robert Psenner and Heini Bacher, with Frantisek Dum and Ivo Kalina or with Gino Pasqualotto, who is now immortalized on the outer wall of the Eiswelle. I will never forget Ronnie Roberts, but I also like to think back to Rudi and Gorazd Hiti. Jaroslav Pavlu, Norbert Gasser, Jiri Dolana, Norbert Koler and Thomas Mair but also many, many others have contributed to the HCB's success story. It was an honor for me to be able to be on the ice with such outstanding players,” says Gamper. Home at 6 a.m., at work at 7 a.m Maybe ice hockey was a factor in the back of Robert Gamper's mind when he was looking for work as a teenager. “There was an extremely attractive offer from Olivetti-Siemens. But I decided to go to the best-known tile wholesaler in the Bolzano area at the time (Reinisch) and stayed with this company for 47 years. I could always count on the courtesy of my two company bosses. Ice hockey was important to them too. I always knew how to separate work and hobby: Even if I returned from an away game in Torre Pellice at 6 a.m., I dutifully went to work at 7 a.m. Unlike many of my teammates, I had no problem sleeping on the bus."

After his retirement, the ice hockey veteran made his vast knowledge available first to the South Tyrolean Ice Sports Association, then under Jakob Geier and later under Christian Trettl. Ultimately, Gamper was interested in bringing his experience to the national association. He worked very successfully with Georges Lariviere and later with Michel Goulet for almost a dozen years and not only developed projects for young ice hockey players, but also implemented them with passion and a lot of empathy, often even against colleagues on the board. “Full-time” grandfather Robert Gamper is cutting back everywhere these days, but he maintains one thing with dedication: friendship with contemporaries and old friends. “But I really like staying at home in the evenings, I don’t go out to play ice hockey anymore,” he says. He lives in Gries with his wife Hedy, a former amateur actress, and is now a “full-time” grandfather. The now 14-year-old granddaughter Alena from Heike Augscheller (who came third overall in the “Zett” Miss South Tyrol election in 2000) and Robert Gamper's son Gerhard is the sunshine of the whole family. Gerhard Gamper, the only son of the goalkeeper legend, lives and works in Singapore, a superlative city-state in Southeast Asia. He works in waste recycling and disposal, an extremely important industry for Singapore.

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The giant Robert: A unique South Tyrolean ice hockey career

In the series “What happened to…”, s+ takes a close look at various sports personalities. This time it's Robert Gamper's turn, the “Giant Robert”, who shaped the ice hockey scene in South Tyrol, but also in Italy, for decades.

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