Ivan Temple moved to BC at age fourteen and began playing junior hockey. He was invited to try out for the Victoria Cougars but an injury during a practice session resulted in the loss of an eye and his chances as a professional hockey player were dashed.

Temple turned instead to managing and coaching, making his mark not only in BC amateur hockey, but also in the NHL with the introduction of many innovative regulations and procedures.

Temple co-founded the Victoria Minor Hockey Association in 1943 and later served as president of the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association from 1949-61. In 1953, he became a member of the BC Amateur Hockey Association (BCAHA) executive and served as president from 1960-63. He organized the BCAHA Mutual Aid Fund, which served as an assistance program for injured players.

Temple helped organize “Minor Hockey Week in BC”. The concept was later adopted by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and became known as “Minor Hockey Week in Canada.”

He was instrumental in refining many hockey regulations, rules, and procedures such as: mandatory use of protective gear in the BCAHA, placing a “T” in the faceoff circles, and faceoff circles in the center ice zone. All of these were later adopted by the CAHA and the NHL.

Temple served as secretary-manager and registrar of the BCAHA in 1963 until his retirement ten years later. In 1973, he received the “Diamond Stick Award,” the highest honour bestowed by the BCAHA for his years of dedicated and innovative service to hockey.