Flat Walsh
James Patrick "Flat" Walsh (March 23, 1897 in Kingston, Ontario – December 2, 1959) was a goaltender in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans.
Biography[]
Walsh was one of the first back-up goaltenders in NHL history, as the Montreal Maroons kept him as a spare for the great Clint Benedict in case of injury. He played one game during the 1926–27 season and one game in 1927–28. In 1928–29, Roy Worters was suspended by NHL president Frank Calder for not reporting to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Worters was sold to the New York Americans, but the Pirates failed to inform Calder of these arrangements and Calder, on his dignity, refused to lift Worters' suspension. As a result, the Americans borrowed Walsh for a few games and he did quite well.
In 1929–30, after Clint Benedict broke his nose on a Howie Morenz shot, Walsh became the Maroons regular goaltender. The following year, James Strachan felt that Walsh could not handle the goaltending alone and Walsh shared the goaltending with Dave Kerr. In 1931–32, Walsh shared the goaltending chores with Normie Smith. Kerr was back to share the goaltending with Walsh in 1932–33, but Walsh came down with influenza which he suffered for a full two weeks and he decided to retire, which saddened Montreal fans, as he was popular with them.
He served as assistant coach with the Maroons in 1934–35 after his retirement.
References[]
- The Trail of the Stanley Cup Vol. 2 by Charles L. Coleman
External links[]
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- 1897 births
- 1959 deaths
- Canadian ice hockey goaltenders
- Ice hockey people from Ontario
- Montreal Maroons players
- New York Americans players
- Sportspeople from Kingston, Ontario
- Canadian ice hockey goaltender stubs