Charlie Conacher Did It All

March 16, 1935. Toronto Maple Leafs' legend Charlie Conacher scores three goals in a 5-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. It is the 12th hat trick of Conacher's career.

Conacher excelled at both ends of the ice that night. When Leafs' goaltender George Hainsworth had to leave the game with an injury with three minutes left, Conacher took to the net. Shots on goal statistics did not survive the passage of time, but he did not surrender a goal, securing the victory for the Leafs.

Charlie Conacher was the Bobby Hull of hockey before Bobby Hull ever came along.

Conacher was big and strong, with a shot that was feared by goaltenders everywhere in the NHL. In fact, once after being hit in the rump by an errant Conacher shot, King Clancy quipped "It felt like somebody had turned a blow torch on me. I couldn't sit down for a week."

Clancy had a certain fondness for "The Big Bomber."

"I never had a finer friend in Toronto than Charlie," said Clancy, who was friends with everyone including the ushers. "He was my protection as a Maple Leaf. I wasn't too big and not too good with my mitts, although I tried to win many a battle. If you got a punch in the chin, you either went down or stood up, shook your head and took it. but Conacher was Toronto's policeman for many years and a great one. He didn't go looking for trouble, but if it came along he would clear it up."

A member of a famous athletic family, he played 12 seasons in the league. While brother Lionel gets to most acclaim as the best athlete, it was Charlie who gets the nod as the best hockey player. The five time All Star and two time Art Ross winner is considered one of the greatest right wingers of any era. A member of the famous Kid Line with Busher Jackson and Joe Primeau.

Here is the full Charlie Conacher biography.

The Mysterious Charlie Conacher Humanitarian Award

This is a 1969 newspaper clipping of Toronto Maple Leafs captain George Armstrong being award the inaugural Charlie Conacher Humanitarian Award, also known as the Charlie Conacher Memorial Award. That's Conacher's widow Sunny in the photo with Armstrong.

Why was Conacher, one of the NHL's greatest goal scorer ever, so honoured to have this award named after him? He had battled throat cancer throughout the 1960s, finally losing the battle on December 30, 1967 at the age of 58. In part of his battle he established the Charlie Conacher Research Fund to help raise funds for research into esophageal cancer. After his passing the Research Fund created the Charlie Conacher Memorial Award that would be given to the NHL player "who best exhibited outstanding humanitarian and public services contributions."

The question many of you may be asking yourselves now is whatever happened to this award? After all, since 1988 the NHL has awarded the King Clancy Memorial Award, named after another early era Leafs great and awarded for great humanitarian work in the community.

The Charlie Conacher Memorial Award was disbanded, for reasons I have not fully unearthed yet, in 1984. But it is very important to note that the Award was never officially recognized by the National Hockey League. It was a third party award with no direct affiliation to the NHL even though a NHL player was recognized each year. The Research Fund held a gala dinner to announce the award winner. The event was a successful fund raiser for the Fund.

Here is a list of winners of the Charlie Conacher Memorial (Humanitarian) Award:

1969 - George Armstrong, Toronto
1970 - Bobby Baun, Detroit
1971 - Jean Beliveau, Montreal, Bobby Orr, Boston
1972 - Orland Kurtenbach, Vancouver
1973 - Gary Bergman, Detroit, Jimmy Peters Jr., Los Angeles
1974 - Ed Westfall, New York Islanders
1975 - Ted Irvine, New York Rangers
1976 - Johnny Bucyk, Boston
1977 - Jim Lorentz, Buffalo
1978 - Bugsy Watson, Washington
1979 - Ed Staniowski, St. Louis
1980 - Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton
1981 - Ed Kea, St. Louis
1982 - Borje Salming, Toronto
1983 - Brad Park, Boston
1984 - Jim Peplinski, Calgary

It is interesting to note that in 1983 Lanny McDonald of Calgary was originally and mistakenly publicly announced as the winner, when in actuality Park had won the balloting. The correction was quickly made.

Stan Mikita, famous for his work with the hearing impaired, was given special recognition at the final gala.

The trophy is apparently on public display at Toronto General Hospital at the Charlie Conacher Research Centre for Cancer.

Tricky Goaltending: Leafs and Wings

Did you know four Hockey Hall of Famers have played goal for both Detroit and Toronto? Can you name them?

The only "easy" answer might be Terry Sawchuk. Harry Lumley and Hap Holmes also played at both ends of the rink. Though they are HHOFers, they are too often forgotten by recent generations.

The fourth answer is actually makes this a bit of a trick question. The great goal scorer Charlie Conacher also played net for both Toronto and Detroit. Back in his day there were no back up goalies, so skaters would have to take to the nets in the event of an injury or a goaltender penalty as goalies served their own penalties, too.

Takes The Starch Out Of Whiskers

Here's a Williams Shaving Cream advertisement from 1937. Lester Patrick, Eddie Shore, Murray Murdoch, and Charlie Conacher all chime in on how to keep those whiskers softer.

1932 Stanley Cup - Toronto Maple Leafs

The year is 1932. The Toronto Maple Leafs, comfortable in their new $1.5 million Maple Leaf Gardens, are challenging the New York Rangers for the Stanley Cup championship. Because the circus is in Madison Square Gardens, the Rangers second home game of the series (game 2) has to be played in Toronto.

The Leafs are led by nicknamed superstars like Busher Jackson, the Big Bomber Charlie Conacher, Gentleman Joe Primeau, King Clancy, Red Horner, Ace Bailey and Baldy Cotton.

The Rangers counter with the best line in hockey - Frank Boucher centering brothers Bill Cook and Bun Cook.

But the Kid Line of Primeau, Conacher and Jackson prove to be too much, sweeping the Rangers in three straight games. The Kid Line combined for 8 goals and 16 points, with the Big Bomber leading the way. Conacher finished the playoffs with 6 goals and 2 assists in seven games. Needless to say Murray Murdoch, who was assigned by the Rangers to shadow Conacher, had a long series.

Primeau, the elegant assist king at center ice, remembered being more relieved than elated when the Leafs hoisted their first Stanley Cup.

"To win the Stanley Cup, it's the top prize and the feeling you get is a little hard to describe. It's a great feeling but it's mixed with a feeling that you're so doggone glad it's over with. You have spent so much of yourself by this time, you're glad you don't have to spend any more. You have this combined feeling: You have this sense of accomplishment after reaching what you have been driving for so long, and you have this feeling of relief - like a load off your shoulders - that now you are going to be able to get some rest," said Primeau.

Leafs coach Dick Irvin was coaching in his second consecutive Stanley Cup finals, having taken Chicago on an unsuccessful Cup bid in 1931. However championship celebrations were non-existent for the coach, who had to rush back to western Canada where his infant son, future hockey broadcaster Dick Irvin, Jr., was seriously ill.

You can watch a rare video clip of the 1932 Stanley Cup playoffs here.

Roach Extermination

The series ended in controversy for the New York Rangers and their goaltender John Ross Roach. Described as something of a playboy, Roach's poor performance was coupled with his going AWOL during practice on the day before game one.

The Rangers had had enough, and coach Lester Patrick gravely announced "Roach is through for next season." Toronto's King Clancy added "If your goalkeeper had done that, I'd have kicked his head off."

Poor J. R. Roach was humiliated by the ordeal, yet he still had to play the series. Trying to restore his battered reputation was not easy, though. With his pride showing he tried as hard as ye could, but the Leafs' potent offense triggered an avalanche of goals

Brothers: The Conachers

One of the early great brother combinations in hockey was the Conacher family. All three brothers ended up in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

There was Charlie Conacher. Back in the 1930s he starred on Toronto's Kid Line with Joe Primeau and Busher Jackson. He was Bobby Hull before Bobby Hull was even born. With his heavy shot they called him The Big Bomber.

Then there was Lionel Conacher, The Big Train. As good as he was at hockey, he was even better at other sports. He was so good at lacrosse, football, wrestling, boxing and baseball he was dubbed Canada's Greatest Athlete. That was confirmed in 1950 when he was named as Canada's athlete of the first half century.

Lastly there was Roy Conacher. The youngster played in the 1940s, in the shadows of his brothers. He was a goal scorer who retired in 1952 with 226 goals in 490 games. It was not until 1998 that he would be included in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Here's a YouTube clip on the Conacher brothers.





The Conacher's NHL family relations did not end there. Charlie's son Pete played in the NHL, while Lionel's son Brian did too. As did Murray Henderson, a nephew of Charlie, Lionel and Roy.