John McCormack (ice hockey)

John McCormack
Born	(1925-08-02)August 2, 1925 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Died	February 22, 2017(2017-02-22) (aged 91) Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Played for	Toronto Maple Leafs Montreal Canadiens Chicago Blackhawks
National team	Canada
Playing career	1947–1955

John Ronald McCormack (August 2, 1925 – February 22, 2017) was a Canadian ice hockey centre. He was born in Edmonton, Alberta.

John's hockey career started off in the local Edmonton hockey leagues. As a star in the Juvenile division, John's coach was in touch with the coach of the Hollywood Wolves who had other Edmonton players such as Harry Black . (father of Bud Black) and a 16 he was off to Southern California. When the war threatened to end the SCHL, John found his way to St. Michaels in Toronto. The St. Michaels Majors won Memorial Cup in 1945. In those 9 playoff games Johnny had 10 goals and assisted on 11 others.

After the playoffs, at 19, John enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy. Luckily, the war ended that same year.

In 1948 John played 3 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs but spent the majority of the time with the Toronto Marlies. In 1949–50, the Marlies won the Allan Cup. John contributed 7 goals and 8 assists in the 13 playoff games.

In 1950 while with the AHL Pittsburgh Hornets, John tried to add the Calder Cup to his resume but they lost to the Cleveland Barons in 7 games. John had 6 goals and 9 assists in the 13 playoff matches.

John played with the Stanley Cup winning Toronto Maple Leafs in 1950–51. After the season he was sold to the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs went on to win the 1952-53 Stanley Cup putting his name on the cup a second time. This made him one of a select few with a Junior Hockey, Senior Hockey and NHL Championship.

John graduated from the University of Toronto in 1949 and rather than join the Leafs, he thought he would study for the priesthood and entered St. Joseph's Seminary in Edmonton. He discovered that the priesthood was not his calling and returned to play with the Leafs in 1950.

In 1951 John married Margaret Anne Gordon, a recent nursing graduate from the Hospital for Sick Children. Conn Smythe, Leaf's owner, generously provide a honeymoon to Pittsburgh for the couple (as a punishment for marrying mid-season).

John played in the NHL for 8 seasons finishing his career with the Chicago Black Hawks before returning to Edmonton as player coach for the hometown Flyers and to raise his family.

John went on to a successful business career mostly spent in the steel industry including starting his own business. While working, one of John's greatest joys was playing with his pals for the NHL Oldtimers. Playing once or twice a week in small town Ontario for any charity that asked, the Oldtimers thrilled many kids and adults alike.

Another favorite pastime for John was Blue Jays baseball. John supported minor league ball his whole life in both Edmonton and the Toronto Maple Leafs AAA club. Johnny gave up his Leaf hockey season tickets and was one of the first in line to pick up Blue Jay seasons tickets.

McCormack began his National Hockey League career with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1947. He also played for the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Black Hawks. He retired from the NHL after the 1955 season. McCormack won two Stanley Cups in his career, one in 1951 with Toronto and another in 1953 with Montreal. He also won the 1945 Memorial Cup with the St. Michael's Majors and the Allan Cup in 1950 with the Toronto Marlboroughs. He died in 2017 in Oshawa, Ontario.^[1]

References[]

External links[]

• Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database