Frank Fredrickson

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Frank Fredrickson
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1958
Frank Fredrickson, 1920 Olympics.jpg
Frank Fredrickson representing Canada at the 1920 Summer Olympics.
Born (1895-06-03)June 3, 1895
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died May 28, 1979(1979-05-28) (aged 83)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1]
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Detroit Olympics (IHL)
Detroit Falcons (NHL)
Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL)
Boston Bruins (NHL)
Detroit Cougars (NHL)
Victoria Cougars (WCHL)
Victoria Cougars (PCHA)
Victoria Aristocrats (PCHA)
National team  Canada
Playing career 1913–1932
Olympic medal record
Men's Ice hockey
Representing  Canada
Gold medal – first place 1920 Antwerp Team competition
Fredrickson with the Victoria Cougars.

Sigurður Franklin Fredrickson (June 3, 1895 – May 28, 1979)[2] was an Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey player and coach who was significant to both the amateur and professional sport as it evolved in North America in the early 20th century.[3] Fredrickson's career was interrupted by military service during World War I and prematurely ended by a knee injury in 1931.[4]

Fredrickson was the center for the Winnipeg Falcons, the Canadian team which won the Olympic gold medal in 1920. Fredrickson then joined the Victoria Aristocrats/Victoria Cougars and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 1925. On both occasions he was a teammate of fellow Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey star Haldor Halderson, making them the first players to win an Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup.[5]

The Icelandic spelling of his last name is Friðriksson and the alternate English spelling Frederickson.[6]

Early life[]

Fredrickson was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Icelandic immigrants Jón Vídalín Friðriksson and Guðlaug S. Sigurðardóttir.[6]

Amateur career[]

Fredrickson attended Kelvin Technical Institute and Central Collegiate before enrolling at the University of Manitoba law school, where he captained the hockey team. After serving in the 196th Battalion, the 223rd Battalion, and the Royal Flying Corps in World War I, he captained the Winnipeg Falcons,[7] to the 1920 Allan Cup and then to the first gold medal offered in the sport at the 1920 Olympics at Antwerp.[8]

Professional career[]

Professionally, Fredrickson played for the Victoria Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Detroit Falcons in the National Hockey League. He helped Victoria win the Stanley Cup in 1925.

On January 18, 1927, Fredrickson scored four goals in a single game for Boston in the Bruins' 7–3 victory over the New York Rangers. He became the second Bruin to achieve this feat. Teammate Harry Oliver had done it exactly one week before.

On December 21, 1928, Fredrickson was traded from the Boston Bruins to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Mickey MacKay. When the Stanley Cup was redone during the 1957–58 NHL season his name was engraved, contrary to NHL rules, on the Cup with the 1929 Bruins. Fredrickson was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates the day Boston won the Cup. This made him ineligible to be on the cup with Boston.

Fredrickson coached hockey and lacrosse after his retirement. He coached the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 1929–1930 season, when he also played 9 games, but the team went 5-36-3 and moved to Philadelphia the next season before folding. In 1933, Fredrickson was named coach of the Princeton University ice hockey team.[9] Fredrickson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958[1] and is also a member of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Fredrickson was of Icelandic and Irish heritage.

Playing style[]

"... Freddie was a bit nervous at the start, and was cut across the legs by the hot Skinner, who drew a penalty. In the second period Freddie got his legs, and in the final session he was a perfect marvel. His skating, stickhandling and dazzling speed as well as his terrific shot made him a most dangerous man. Vancouver tried to box him, but he was too fast, and was continually on top of Lehman."

Victoria Daily Times describing Fredrickson's first professional game with the Victoria Aristocrats on January 1, 1921.[10]

Fredrickson was a natural centre forward, a left-hand shot, and with all the valuable traits of a franchise pivot man: skating, speed, stick-handling, size and a terrific shot.

When Fredrickson made his long-awaited professional debut in the PCHA with the Victoria Aristocrats against the Vancouver Millionaires on New Year's Day 1921 he was already 25 years old and an Allan Cup and Olympic champion, and the anticipations among the home fans in Victoria were sky high, although there were also some doubters who wondered if he could star in the PCHA circuit. Fredrickson did not let anyone down, when he was finally let on by coach Lester Patrick after 10 minutes of play, after he had shaken off his last nerves. During the last period of the game Fredrickson had one goal and two assists when Victoria turned the game around and won 5 goals to 3, with the local newspaper Victoria Daily Times hailing him as the new "Babe Ruth of hockey" and claiming that "he showed everything and lacked nothing."[10]

Career statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1913–14 Winnipeg Falcons MHL-Sr. 11 13 7 20 0 — — — — —
1914–15 Winnipeg Falcons MHL-Sr. 8 10 5 15 0 1 1 0 1 0
1915–16 Winnipeg Falcons MHL-Sr. 6 13 3 16 14 — — — — —
1916–17 Winnipeg 223rd Battalion MHL-Sr. 8 17 3 20 40 — — — — —
1919–20 Winnipeg Falcons MHL-Sr. 10 23 5 28 12 6 20 5 25 2
1920–21 Victoria Aristocrats PCHA 21 20 12 32 3 — — — — —
1921–22 Victoria Aristocrats PCHA 24 15 10 25 26 — — — — —
1922–23 Victoria Cougars PCHA 30 39 16 55 26 2 2 0 2 4
1923–24 Victoria Cougars PCHA 30 19 8 27 28 — — — — —
1924–25 Victoria Cougars WCHL 28 22 8 30 43 4 3 1 4 2
1924–25* Victoria Cougars St-Cup — — — — — 4 3 2 5 6
1925–26 Victoria Cougars WHL 30 16 8 24 89 4 2 1 3 6
1925–26 Victoria Cougars St-Cup — — — — — 4 1 1 2 10
1926–27 Detroit Cougars NHL 16 4 6 10 12 — — — — —
1926–27 Boston Bruins NHL 28 14 7 21 33 8 2 2 4 20
1927–28 Boston Bruins NHL 41 10 4 14 83 2 0 1 1 4
1928–29* Boston Bruins NHL 12 3 1 4 24 — — — — —
1928–29 Pittsburgh Pirates NHL 31 3 7 10 28 — — — — —
1929–30 Pittsburgh Pirates NHL 9 4 7 11 20 — — — — —
1930–31 Detroit Falcons NHL 24 1 2 3 6 — — — — —
1930–31 Detroit Olympics IHL 6 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
PCHA totals 105 93 46 139 83 2 2 0 2 4
WCHL/WHL totals 58 38 16 54 132 8 5 2 7 8
NHL totals 161 39 34 73 206 10 2 3 5 24

* Stanley Cup Champion.

  • All statistics taken from NHL.com[11]

Awards and achievements[]

Fredrickson (far left in the back row, right behind the lady) with the Winnipeg Falcons en route to the 1920 Olympics.

Coaching statistics[]

Coaching record[]

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
PIT 1929–30 44 5 36 3 13 5th in American Missed playoffs

College[]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Princeton Tigers (Quadrangular League) (1933–1935)
1933–34 Princeton 10–7–0
1934–35 Princeton 5–11–0
Total: 15–18–0

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References[]

  1. ^ a b Hockey Hall of Fame 2003, p. 28.
  2. ^ "Frank Fredrickson". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Frank Fredrickson Biography". legendsofhockety.net. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  4. ^ "Frank Fredrickson Biography". Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  5. ^ "Winnipeg Falcons, who became 1st Olympic hockey champs 100 years ago, to be celebrated at Gimli's Ice Fest". CBC. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Winnipeg Falcons - Military Biographies". Icelandic Veteran's Database (in Icelandic). 1923. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  7. ^ "Spalding, as reproduced on Winnipeg falcons.com". Spalding's Athletic Library. 1919. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  8. ^ "Winners in first Olympic ice hockey tournament" Victoria Daily Times, April 28, 1920 (p. 10). Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  9. ^ "Tigers Here Saturday". The Baltimore Sun. December 31, 1933. p. 11.
  10. ^ a b "Frederickson Will Be Babe Ruth of the P.C.H.A.", Victoria Daily Times. Jan. 3, 1921 (p. 12). Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  11. ^ NHL.com (2009). "Frank Fredrickson's NHL Profile". NHL.com. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
General references

External links[]

Preceded by Head coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates
1929–30 		Succeeded by
Philadelphia Quakers coaches
Cooper Smeaton
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