Jump to content

Percy LeSueur

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Maxim (talk | contribs) at 15:04, 22 October 2011 (→Toronto). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Percy LeSueur
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1961
Born (1881-11-21)November 21, 1881[1]
Quebec City, PQ, CAN
Died January 27, 1962(1962-01-27) (aged 80)
Hamilton, ON, CAN[2]
Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight 150 lb (68 kg; 10 st 10 lb)
Position Goaltender
Played for Smiths Falls Seniors (OHA/FAHL)
Ottawa Senators (ECAHA/CHA/NHA)
Toronto Shamrocks (NHA)
Toronto Blueshirts (NHA)
Playing career 1903–1916

Sergeant Percy St. Helier LeSueur[3] (November 18, 1881 – January 27, 1962) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He was noticed by the Ottawa Hockey Club in a Stanley Cup challenge match, in which he had played for the challenger, the Smiths Falls Seniors. While his team lost the series, LeSueur was credited with keeping the games close, and nine days after his team's defeat, he was playing for Ottawa in a challenge match against the Montreal Wanderers. He remained with Ottawa through the 1913–14 season. In addition to being the goaltender, he also captained the team for his three final seasons, and served as player-coach for his last season with Ottawa.

LeSueur was traded to the Toronto Shamrocks for the 1914–15 season, and played one season with the team. After playing the following season for the Toronto Blueshirts, he enlisted in the army and fought for Canada during the First World War. After the conclusion of the war, he returned to the game of ice hockey in various roles, including referee, coach, manager, arena manager, and hockey journalist. He coached ten games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Hamilton Tigers. As a journalist, he was the first reporter to include shots on goal in his game summaries.

During his playing career, he improved upon existing ice hockey equipment. He designed the gauntlet-style glove for goaltenders which protected the forearms, and created and patented the LeSueur net which was able to catch high-rising shots. LeSueur was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961, and died a few months later following a lengthy illness.

Playing career

Smiths Falls

Born in Quebec City, Quebec, he played amateur hockey with the hometown Victorias, Crescent Intermediates, and the Seniors.[4] For the 1903–04 season, he moved to Smiths Falls, Ontario, to play for the Seniors. In Smiths Falls, LeSueur switched to goaltender from right wing, after the team's usual netminder had fallen ill.[5]

In March 1906, the Seniors issued a challenge for the Stanley Cup to the Ottawa Silver Seven.[6] In the two-game, total goals series played at Dey's Arena in Ottawa on March 6 and 8, Smiths Falls lost the first game 6–5, and the second game 8–2. Despite surrendering 14 goals during the match, LeSueur's work in net was noticed. The Montreal Star remarked that he had held the first game close, noting that the "most spectacular saves of the match were made by [him]".[5]

Ottawa

Ottawa Hockey Club, 1909 Stanley Cup champions; LeSueur is to the right and down from H.M. Merrill, top left.

LeSueur played in an era when players had another occupation outside of the sport. LeSueur, a bank clerk, had moved 60 kilometres northeast along the rail line to Ottawa following his team's loss in the challenge match. When the Silver Seven asked him to play for them, having been highly impressed by his performance in the recent challenge match, they called LeSueur's arrival a mere coincidence. Ottawa had lost confidence in their previous goalkeeper, Billy Hague, following a 9–1 defeat at the hands of the Montreal Wanderers in the first game of their two-game, total-goals Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) playoff series, for the Cup. With an eight-goal lead in the series, the Wanderers did not protest LeSueur's eligibility in the series. In the second game, played on March 17, LeSueur had surrendered an early goal to Moose Johnson, but then surrendered no goals to help the Silver Seven tie the series with nine straight goals. Frank Smith appeared to put Ottawa ahead 11–10, but his seventh goal of the game was disallowed by an offside call.[7] The Wanderers responded with a "furious attack"[7] and avoided completely surrendering their previous nine-goal advantage in the series, when Lester Patrick scored two late goals, which gave Montreal a 12–10 series victory and the Stanley Cup.[6]

LeSueur played for Ottawa through the 1913–14 season. In 1908, he was sole representative for Ottawa at the Hod Stuart Benefit All-Star Game, played on January 2. Stuart, a member of the Wanderers squad who won the Cup in 1907, had drowned in the previous off-season. The All-Star game, the first of its kind in any sport, was hosted by ECAHA, and its proceeds were given to Stuart's widow and their two children. The All-Stars, playing against the Wanderers, lost the game 10–7.[8] LeSueur remarked in the Ottawa Free Press that while joining the Silver Seven was his "biggest thrill", his participation in the All-Star Game came a "close second".[4]

In 1909, LeSueur won the Stanley Cup with the Senators after finishing with the most wins in the 1909 ECHA season. The same season, he wrote a 48-page booklet entitled How to Play Hockey,[6] a work none too dissimilar to Arthur Farrell's handbook Hockey: Canada's Royal Winter Game, which 10 years prior, was the first book published on ice hockey. His book was particularly popular among youngsters.[9]

LeSueur was named captain of the Senators starting in the 1910–11 season.[9] At the conclusion of the season, the LeSueur-captained Senators regained possession of the Cup by leading the regular season standings in the National Hockey Association (NHA).[4] Having appeared in all of Ottawa's games in both seasons, LeSueur led the league in wins in the seasons where Ottawa won the Stanley Cup; in 1909, he registered 10 victories, and increased that number to 13 in the 1911 season.[9][10] The Senators lost possession of the Stanley Cup to the Quebec Bulldogs, who led the NHA in wins the following season. For 1913–14, LeSueur also coached the team, in addition to playing and serving as captain.[9]

Toronto

He was traded to the Toronto Shamrocks for Fred Lake and $300, as fellow future Hall-of-Famer Clint Benedict had taken the goaltender's job in Ottawa.[11] LeSueur was the last member of the club who had won the Stanley Cup in 1909 or 1911 that remained in Ottawa.[11] Coincidentally, the 1913–14 season also marked the end of the Stanley Cup challenge era. In Stanley Cup play, LeSueur had a 7–2 record, with all the victories coming as a member of the Senators, and all losses as part of the Smiths Falls Seniors.[9]

For the 1915–16 season, LeSueur played for the cross-town rival Toronto Blueshirts, where he finished his playing career. During his two seasons in Toronto, he had a losing record each year.[10] After the conclusion of the season, LeSueur became a full-time practising accountant, but then enlisted with the 48th Highlanders which served as the 134th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War.[1]

Post-war

After the war, he returned to hockey not as a player, but as a referee, coach, manager, arena manager, and journalist.[12] His first job after retiring from play was as an NHL referee.[9] Afterwards, he coached in the minor leagues and the NHL. In 1921, he was behind the bench when the Galt, Ontario intermediate team won the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) championship.[4] He was appointed the Hamilton Tigers' head coach for the 1923–24 season, but coached only the first 10 games of the 24-game season.[12] When LeSueur was fired, the team had a 3–7 record, and the team finished the season last in the NHL standings, with an overall record of 9–15.[13]

After these forays in coaching, LeSueur managed several arenas and guided the creation of new teams. As manager of the Windsor Arena and the Detroit Olympia, he helped assemble an ownership group that acquired the Victoria Cougars from the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), prior to the 1926–27 season. The team joined the NHL as the Detroit Cougars, which are now known as the Red Wings.[9] In the 1928–29, he managed the Peace Bridge Arena in Fort Erie, Ontario. He guided the Buffalo Bisons' entry in to the new International Hockey League (IHL) from the Canadian Professional Hockey League (CPHL),[4] and served as their coach.[9] He joined the Syracuse Stars of the IHL as head coach for the 1930–31 season, but was replaced mid-season by fellow Hall-of-Famer Frank Foyston.[14] LeSueur also managed the Syracuse Arena. While he was an IHL coach, he used his spare players to explain the rules of hockey during intermission to spectators new to the sport.[9]

Following his coaching and managing career, LeSueur turned to journalism. He was a columnist for The Hamilton Spectator, and in his game reports, he was the first reporter to list shots on goal as part of his summaries. In addition to writing, he was also a radio broadcaster. He used this role to help sell the game in regions without an ice hockey tradition.[9] LeSueur was an original member of Hockey Night in Canada's "Hot Stove League".[6]

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961 as a player.[4] In 1968, he was posthumously inducted as one of the 55 original members of the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame.[15]

Playing style and innovations

He played with the alacrity of a tiger. He played with his hands, head, and feet. He never throws the puck away and in the tightest corners carries [it] to the back of his net and gives it to one of his forwards.

—Ottawa Free Press, 1907[6]

Described as a "thinking man's custodian",[16] LeSueur played in the era of ice hockey where goaltenders were obligated to guard the nets standing up. The rules forbade goalkeepers from lying, sitting, kneeling, or otherwise falling onto the ice to make a save. Forced to play a stand-up style, LeSueur was aggressive in goal and was sufficiently athletic to be able to stop two or three shots in quick succession. Hockey historian Bill Fitsell noted that he had an "intense roving style",[6] playing the puck outside of his crease in a style popularised forty years later by fellow Hall of Fame goaltender Jacques Plante. His roving and aggressive style was exemplified in a game against the Quebec Bulldogs, where LeSueur was reported to have sprinted at, and "floored", an opposing forward who was on a breakaway.[6]

LeSueur is credited with two major innovations to ice hockey equipment. Around 1909, he experimented with using a baseball catcher's glove, with extra padding, to catch the puck.[17] His experimentation would later lead to gauntlet-style gloves, which offered protection in particular to the goaltender's forearms.[6][12] In addition to the gloves, he designed and patented the LeSueur net which was used from 1911 to 1925, first by the NHA until 1917, and then by its successor, the NHL.[9] This net, with a bottom 22 inches wide but its top 17 inches in width,[6] was designed to trap rising shots.[12] Fellow Hall-of-Famer Art Ross later improved on LeSueur's design, and his eponymous net was used by the NHL from 1927 to 1984.[18][19]

Personal life

LeSueur died on January 27, 1962, following a lengthy illness, a few months after his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In a Canadian Press obituary, fellow Hall of Famer Newsy Lalonde described him as "one the best goalies he ever faced", and Cyclone Taylor, a teammate on the 1909 Stanley Cup-winning Senators team, stated that LeSueur would always be in goal whenever "he was asked to pick an All-Star team".[2]

LeSueur was married to Georgia,[1] and one of his children, Steve Douglas, followed his father into radio broadcasting.[20] At the time of his father's death, Douglas was a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) sports commentator.[7] Percy LeSueur was a Presbyterian.[21]

Career statistics

Regular season

Season Team League GP W L T SO GAA
1903–04 Smiths Falls Seniors OHA 6 3 3 0 2 2.11
1904–05 Smiths Falls Seniors OHA — — — — — —
1905–06 Smiths Falls Seniors FAHL 7 7 0 0 1 2.30
1906–07 Ottawa Senators ECAHA 10 7 3 0 0 5.38
1907–08 Ottawa Senators ECAHA 10 7 3 0 0 4.86
1908–09 Ottawa Senators ECHA 12 10 2 0 0 5.19
1909–10 Ottawa Senators CHA 2 2 0 0 0 4.50
1909–10 Ottawa Senators NHA 12 9 3 0 0 5.41
1910–11 Ottawa Senators NHA 16 13 3 0 1 4.18
1911–12 Ottawa Senators NHA 18 9 9 0 0 4.84
1912–13 Ottawa Senators NHA 18 7 10 0 0 4.18
1913–14 Ottawa Senators NHA 13 6 6 0 1 3.26
1914–15 Toronto Shamrocks NHA 19 8 11 0 0 5.03
1915–16 Toronto Blueshirts NHA 23 9 13 0 1 3.90

Stanley Cup challenge games

Season Team GP W L T SO GAA
1905–06 Smiths Falls Seniors 2 0 2 0 0 7.00
1905–06 Ottawa Senators 1 1 0 0 0 3.00
1909–10 Ottawa Senators 4 4 0 0 0 3.75
1910–11 Ottawa Senators 2 2 0 0 0 4.00

References

Bibliography

  • Allen, Kevin (2002). Without Fear: Hockey's 50 greatest goaltenders. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN 9781572434844. OCLC 49936232. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Cosentino, Frank (1990). The Renfrew Millionaires: the Valley Boys of Winter 1910. Burnstown, Ontario: General Store Publishing House. ISBN 9780919431355.
  • Duplacey, James (2000). The official rules of hockey. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot. ISBN 1585740527. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Holtzman, Morey (2002). Deceptions and Doublecross: How the NHL Conquered Hockey. Toronto: Dundurn Press. ISBN 1550024132. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Hughes, Morgan; Fischler, Stan and Shirley; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International, Ltd. ISBN 0785396241.
  • Mancuso, Jim (2005). Hockey in Syracuse. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738538983.
  • Podnieks, Andrew (2000). The NHL All-Star Game: Fifty Years of the Great Tradition. Toronto: HarperCollins. ISBN 000200058X.
  • Weekes, Don (2009). The Biggest Book of Hockey Trivia. Vancouver: Greystone Books. ISBN 9781553654568.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c "Attestation Paper (Percy LeSueur; front)". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2011-06-04.
  2. ^ a b The Canadian Press (1962-01-30). "Game's Greats Pay Tribute To Late Goalie Percy LeSueur". Edmonton Journal. p. 6.
  3. ^ "Soldiers of the First World War". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Percy LeSueur—Biography". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  5. ^ a b Allen, Duff, Bower; p. 63.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Allen, Duff, Bower; p. 62.
  7. ^ a b c The Canadian Press (1962-01-27). "Hall of Famer Percy LeSueur Dies At Age 79". Ottawa Citizen. p. 14.
  8. ^ Podnieks, pp. 2–4.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Allen, Duff, Bower; p. 61.
  10. ^ a b "Percy LeSueur—Career statistics". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  11. ^ a b Holtzmann, Nieforth; p. 33.
  12. ^ a b c d Weekes, p. 448.
  13. ^ Weekes, pp. 448–9.
  14. ^ Mancuso, p. 9.
  15. ^ "Ottawa Hall of Fame opens Thursday with honor roll of 55". Ottawa Citizen. 1968-04-27. p. 27.
  16. ^ Allen, Duff, Bower; p. 9.
  17. ^ Cosentino, p. 32.
  18. ^ Duplacey, Diamond; p. 6.
  19. ^ Hughes, Fischler, Fischler, Romain, Duplacey; p. 76.
  20. ^ "LeSueur is 'Safe'; Missing Radio Announcer Writes Father From Jersey City". The New York Times. 1937-12-25.
  21. ^ "Attestation Paper (Percy LeSueur; back)". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2011-06-04.

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Percy_LeSueur&oldid=456835813"