Lionel Conacher

Lionel Conacher
Member of Provincial Parliament
In office
1937–1943
Preceded by Arthur Russell Nesbitt
Succeeded by Rae Luckock
Constituency Bracondale
Member of Parliament
In office
1949–1954
Preceded by Larry Skey
Succeeded by Donald Carrick
Constituency Trinity
Personal details
Born (1900-05-24)May 24, 1900
Toronto, Ontario
Died May 26, 1954(1954-05-26) (aged 54)
Ottawa, Ontario
Nationality Canada
Political party Liberal
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Occupation Professional Athlete
Military service
Nickname(s) Big Train
Allegiance Canada
Service/branch RCAF
Years of service 1942–1943
Rank Honorary Squadron Leader

Lionel Pretoria Conacher, MP (/ˈkɒnəkər/; May 24, 1900 – May 26, 1954), nicknamed "The Big Train", was a Canadian athlete and politician. Voted the country's top athlete of the first half of the 20th century, he won championships in numerous sports. His first passion was football; he was a member of the 1921 Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts. He was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team that won the International League championship in 1926. In hockey, he won a Memorial Cup in 1920, and the Stanley Cup twice: with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1934 and the Montreal Maroons in 1935. Additionally, he won wrestling, boxing and lacrosse championships during his playing career. He and Carl Voss are the only players to have their names engraved on both the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup.

Conacher retired as an athlete in 1937 to enter politics. He won election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1937, and in 1949 won a seat in the House of Commons. Many of his political positions revolved around sports. He worked to eliminate corruption in boxing while serving as a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Ontario, also serving as the chairman of the Ontario Athletic Commission. Additionally, he served a term as director of recreation and entertainment for the Royal Canadian Air Force.[1] It was also on the sports field that Conacher died: He suffered a heart attack during a softball game in 1954.

Numerous organizations have honoured Conacher's career. In addition to being named Canada's athlete of the half-century, he was named the country's top football player over the same period. He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1955, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1964, the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1965, the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.[2] Additionally, the Canadian Press gives the Lionel Conacher Award to its male athlete of the year.

Early life

Conacher was born in Toronto, Ontario on May 24, 1900.[3] His middle name was given after the South African city of Pretoria, where British troops were fighting the Boer War at the time of his birth.[4] He was the eldest son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Conacher, and the third of ten children overall. He had four brothers and five sisters.[5] The family grew up in the neighourhood of Davenport, which his brother Charlie described as "one of Toronto's higher class slums".[4] His father was a teamster, and struggled to earn enough money to support the family.[6] In the winter, he ploughed the snow off outdoor skating rinks to earn additional money.[7] Conacher left school after the eighth grade to go to work and help support his siblings.[8] For ten hours a day, he hauled sod, earning an extra dollar a week for his family.[9]

All ten children were encouraged to participate in sports by the principal of Jesse Ketchum School, who felt that such pursuits would keep his students from getting into trouble. Conacher discovered that he was among the better players in any sport he tried, and quickly became a star at Canadian football, ice hockey and lacrosse.[4] He realized his athletic ability could offer an escape from poverty.[8]

Amateur career

Conacher was a prolific athlete, excelling in numerous sports at the same time. He played with 14 different teams during his teenage years, winning 11 championships.[6] He was 16 years old when he won the Ontario lightweight wrestling championship,[10] and at 20 won the Canadian amateur light-heavyweight boxing championship.[11] In 1921, he fought, and was knocked out by heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey in an exhibition match.[12] One year he famously hit a triple to win the Toronto city baseball championship, then rushed to the other side of the city to find his lacrosse team trailing 3–0 in the Ontario provincial final. He scored four goals and an assist to lead them to a comeback victory.[13]

Football

Rugby football was the first sport Conacher played, and it was his favourite.[14] He first played organized football at the age of 12 as a middle wing with the Capitals in the Toronto Rugby Football League.[15] He played four seasons with the team between 1912 and 1915, during which the Capitals won the city championship each year. He won the Ontario championship as a junior with the Toronto Central YMCA in 1918, and in 1919 moved up to the intermediate level.[16] With the intermediate Capitals, he was moved to into an offensive role as a halfback. He excelled in the role, and his team reached Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) final. In that final, the Capitals' opponents from Sarnia made stopping Conacher their priority, a strategy that proved the difference as Sarnia won the championship.[17]

Conacher moved to the senior level in 1920 with the Toronto Rugby Club where his team again won the ORFU championship, but lost the eastern semifinal to the Toronto Argonauts of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU). His play impressed the Argonauts, who signed him for the 1921 season.[15] In his first game with the Argonauts, he scored 23 of the team's 27 points, and led the IRFU in scoring, accounting for 85 of his team's 167 points as they went undefeated in six games.[15] The Argonauts won the eastern championship, and faced the Edmonton Eskimos (renamed Edmonton 'Elks' in 1922) in the first east-west Grey Cup championship in Canadian history. Conacher scored 15 points in Toronto's 23–0 victory to claim the national title.[18]

Named captain in 1922, Conacher led the Argonauts to another undefeated season in IRFU play, finishing with five wins and one tie, as he rushed for 950 yards. The Argonauts reached the Eastern final, but lost to Queen's University, 12–11, in a game which Conacher struggled, committing seven fumbles.[15]

Ice hockey

The expense of playing hockey initially kept Conacher off the ice.[10] He did not learn to skate until he was 16. Consequently, hockey was among his weakest sports.[8] He played with the Toronto Century Rovers, and then the Aura Lee Athletic Club, but saw limited ice time. Determined to improve his game, he closely watched the top players from the bench and sought to emulate what made them successful. His efforts paid off, and by 1918–19, was considered a star defenceman for Aura Lee.[19] He joined the Toronto Canoe Club Paddlers, a team of all-star calibre players in 1919–20, and with them won the Memorial Cup, Canada's national junior championship.[20] Conacher then returned to the Aura Lees to play for their senior team for two years.[21]

National Hockey League (NHL) teams took notice of Conacher's ability. The Toronto St. Pats offered him $3,000 a season – three times the average salary – to play for them in 1920–21,[22] while in 1921, the Montreal Canadiens offered $5000 and support setting up a business.[23] He turned both down as he was not yet willing to surrender his status as an amateur athlete.[22] His decisions to refuse the offers led to speculation that he was being paid under the table. He and Billy Burch were accused of deliberately throwing a game in 1922, but were absolved of guilt by the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada.[24]

Move to Pittsburgh

Conacher remained in senior hockey and while playing for the North Toronto Seniors in 1923, was a part of the first hockey game ever broadcast on radio.[21] That summer, he received an offer from Roy Schooley, the manager of the Duquesne Gardens and owner of the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets of the United States Amateur Hockey Association (USAHA), to play for his team. While he would retain his amateur status, Schooley set Conacher up with a job in the insurance business and paid his university tuition so that he could improve his education.[25] He brought many of his teammates with him to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, all of whom received jobs in the community, and he attended school at Bellefonte Academy for a year before enrolling at Duquesne University.[26]

He played football for both schools in the fall,[15] and served as the Yellow Jackets' captain in the winter where he led the team to consecutive USAHA titles in 1924 and 1925.[21] In the summers, Conacher returned to Toronto and played lacrosse and baseball.[27] The Yellow Jackets turned professional in 1925 when they were renamed the Pittsburgh Pirates and joined the National Hockey League (NHL).[21] Conacher finally chose to turn professional with the team, a decision that surprised fans and teammates in Toronto, who knew of his favourtism for the game of football.[6]

Professional career

Conacher as a member of the Montreal Maroons

Conacher scored the first goal in Pirates history on American Thanksgiving Day Thursday November 26, 1925, against the Boston Bruins.[21] He scored nine goals in 33 games in 1925–26, then returned to Toronto to play professional baseball with the Toronto Maple Leafs.[28] An outfielder on the team, Conacher and the Maple Leafs won the International League championship then defeated the Louisville Colonels to win the Little World Series.[29]

He returned to Pittsburgh for the 1926–27 NHL season, but was dealt early in the year to the New York Americans in exchange for Charlie Langlois and $2,000.[30] The trade nearly proved disastrous for Conacher. He scored 8 goals in 1926–27 and improved to 11 in 1927–28,[30] but playing for a team owned by notorious bootlegger Bill Dwyer resulted in his becoming a heavy drinker.[26] Conacher served as player-coach in 1929–30, but his play and health had deteriorated. Two events in that off-season saved Conacher: he swore off alcohol completely upon the birth of his first child, and his playing rights were sold to the Montreal Maroons.[31]

Conacher periodically struggled with Montreal, and at one point was placed on waivers with no other team willing to take over his contract.[32] Nonetheless, his overall play and point totals increased for three consecutive seasons with the Maroons, peaking at 28 points in 1932–33.[30] He was named to the Second All-Star Team that season,[13] but was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks in exchange for Teddy Graham.[30] Conacher was a key figure in the club's first-ever Stanley Cup victory that season. He finished second to the Canadiens' Aurel Joliat in the voting for the Hart Trophy and earned a spot on the NHL's First All-Star Team.[21]

On Wednesday October 3, 1934, Conacher was involved in one of the largest transactions in league history. He was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, along with Leroy Goldsworthy and Roger Jenkins in exchange for Montreal superstar Howie Morenz, Lorne Chabot and Marty Burke.[33] The deal was only part of a series of trades involving four teams that represented one of the biggest deals in NHL history. Immediately following the Chicago trade, Conacher was sent back to the Maroons, along with Herb Cain, in exchange for the rights to Nelson Crutchfield.[34] Conacher spent his last three NHL seasons with the Maroons and won his second Stanley Cup in 1935. He ended his hockey career after the team was eliminated from the playoffs by the New York Rangers on April 23, 1937. That final year he was runner-up to Babe Siebert in the 1937 Hart Trophy voting and was placed on the NHL Second All-Star Team.[21]

Canadian professional football

Conacher in 1934

Conacher had not played competitive football since turning professional. At one point he was offered a position as coach of the Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers, but disappointed the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union club when he turned down the job due to his other commitments.[35] He was not absent the game long, however, as Conacher returned to football in 1933. He was part of an effort to launch a new professional league that would feature both Canadian and American teams.[36] The league never came to fruition, but Conacher organized what became the first professional football team in Canada.[18] He captained the team, based out of Toronto, which was known as the Crosse and Blackwell Chefs following a sponsorship with a local food products company.[15] Conacher recruited former amateur players who had likewise left the sport in favour of paying jobs in other pro sports, including his brother Charlie.[37]

The first game was held Thanksgiving Day in 1933, an exhibition contest against the Rochester Arpeakos. A crowd of 10,000 attended the game to watch Conacher play his first competitive football game in Canada in ten years. He did not disappoint, scoring two touchdowns and setting up a third for the Chefs, and was hailed as the game's star despite an 18–15 loss.[38] Toronto lost a return match in Rochester, but in the third and final game of their season, the Chefs defeated a team from Buffalo at Toronto by a score of 18–0.[39] Conacher was again the star, rushing for two touchdowns and scoring 13 of his team's points.[40] He organized the team for a second year in 1934, known as the Wrigley Aromints due to new sponsorship, and again played an exhibition schedule as the team remained unaffiliated with any league.[41] The team again played three games, winning all three. However, at the age of 34 years, Conacher found that the game was too hard on his body physically, and neither he nor his team returned for a third season.[42]

Lacrosse

Led by the owners of the Montreal Canadiens, the arena operators of Canada's NHL teams invented the sport of box lacrosse in 1931 in a bid to fill arena dates in the summer.[43] The field variant of the sport had been in decline in Canada as the popularity of baseball and football grew, and it was hoped that lacrosse played in the confines of a hockey rink would create a faster, more exciting game.[44] A summer professional circuit, the International Professional Lacrosse League was created with representative teams of the Montreal Maroons, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and an entry from Cornwall, Ontario. Several NHL players who had played the field game before abandoning it to turn professional in hockey signed with the teams, including Conacher, who joined the Maroons.[44] The Maroons' inaugural game came against the Maple Leafs, and though Toronto won 9–7, Conacher stole the spotlight from the victors. He scored six of Montreal's goals, assisted on the seventh, and earned the praise of his fellow players.[45] When the Maroons went to Toronto, the Maple Leafs hosted a "Lionel Conacher Night" to celebrate the city's native son.[45] The Maroons did not figure into the playoff for the championship, but Conacher led the league in scoring with 107 points. His dominance in the league was such that his total nearly doubled his nearest rival, who finished with 56 points.[46] In one game, against Toronto, he scored ten goals in a 17–12 victory.[47] He chose not to return to lacrosse for the 1932 season, choosing instead to sign a contract to wrestle professionally during the hockey off-seasons.[48]

Political career

Bracondale

When Conacher retired from professional hockey, he ran as a Liberal in the 1937 Ontario general election. He was elected as a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) representing the Toronto Bracondale electoral district in the Ontario Legislative Assembly, defeating the district's incumbent, Conservative Arthur Russell Nesbitt.[49] Bracondale had a colourful electoral past, and this election night was no different. The October 6 election was a very close race between Nesbitt and Conacher.

Conacher represented Bracondale from October 6, 1937 until June 30, 1943, when the Legislature was dissolved for the 1943 Ontario general election.[50] He was challenged for the Liberal nomination in Bracondale by Toronto city alderman E. C. Bogart.[51] Bogart won and then lost the seat to the Co-operative Commwealth's Rae Luckock a few weeks later.[52]

Trinity

In the 1945 Canadian general election, Conacher represented the Liberal Party of Canada for a seat in the Canadian House of Commons, where he came second in Toronto's Trinity electoral district, losing to the Progressive Conservative incumbent. He ran again in Trinity for the Liberals in the 1949 Canadian general election, and this time he was elected. He was re-elected for a final time in the 1953 election.[3]

In the spring of 1954 Conacher was in Ottawa attending to his parliamentary duties when he was asked to play in the annual softball game between MPs and members of the parliamentary press gallery. On May 26, in the sixth inning, in his last at-bat-ever, he hit a long drive into left field, stretching a single into a triple, when he sprinted to third base.[3] He stood, breathing heavily and then collapsed face-first from a coronary thrombosis. One of the other MPs was a doctor who tried to assist him, but there was little that could be done for Conacher and within twenty minutes he was pronounced dead.[8] The next day Conacher was supposed to attend his daughter's graduation from the University of Toronto.[3] A big funeral was held, and his brother Charlie flew in from England to be there.[3] He was buried at St. Johns York Mills Anglican Church Cemetery in Toronto.[53]

Awards

He was named Canada's Greatest Male Athlete of the Half-Century (1950). In 1981 the Pro Football Researchers Association called Conacher "Canada's Answer to Jim Thorpe".[15] He is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame (1955), the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (1963), the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1966), and Hockey Hall of Fame (1994). The award for the Canadian Press Canadian male athlete of the year is called the Lionel Conacher Award.[21]

Family

Conacher's younger brothers, Charlie Conacher, and Roy Conacher, were also Hall of Fame hockey players. His namesake, Lionel Jr., was a first round draft pick in 1960 and played a season with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. His son Brian Conacher represented Canada at the 1964 Winter Olympics and played for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League, winning a Stanley Cup with them in 1966–67 NHL season. Pete Conacher, Lionel's nephew and the son of Charlie, also played in the NHL. Current NHL player Cory Conacher is also a distant relative of Lionel's.[54]

Career statistics

Ice hockey

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1916–17Toronto Century RoversMinor-ON ——————————
1917–18Toronto Aura LeeOHA-Jr. ——————————
1918–19Parkdale Canoe ClubOHA-Jr. ——————————
1919–20Toronto Canoe ClubOHA-Jr. —————1221930—
1920–21Toronto Aura LeeOHA-Sr. 10325——————
1921–22Toronto Aura LeeOHA-Sr. 20729—22020
1922–23North Toronto A. A.OHA-Int. ——————————
1923–24Pittsburgh Yellow JacketsUSAHA 2012416—13639—
1924–25Pittsburgh Yellow JacketsUSAHA 4014014—8505—
1925–26Pittsburgh PiratesNHL 33941364—————
1926–27Pittsburgh PiratesNHL 1000012—————
1926–27New York AmericansNHL 30891781—————
1927–28New York AmericansNHL 301161782—————
1928–29New York AmericansNHL 44527132200010
1929–30New York AmericansNHL 39461073—————
1930–31Montreal MaroonsNHL 354375720002
1931–32Montreal MaroonsNHL 4679166040002
1932–33Montreal MaroonsNHL 47721286120110
1933–34Chicago Black HawksNHL 481013238782024
1934–35Montreal MaroonsNHL 4026844700014
1935–36Montreal MaroonsNHL 4777146530000
1936–37Montreal MaroonsNHL 45619256450112
NHL totals 494801051858823322434

NHL coaching record

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
New York Americans1929–30 4414255335th in CanadianMissed playoffs

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "Lionel Conacher Named Air Force Sports Head". The Evening Citizen (Ottawa). 1942-07-09. p. 13.
  2. ↑ "Lionel Conacher". http://oshof.ca/. Retrieved 23 September 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "'Big Train' Passes on Lionel Conacher, M.P. Played Game to End". The Toronto Daily Star (Toronto). 1954-05-27. pp. 1, 3.
  4. 1 2 3 Shea, Kevin (2006-01-30), One on one with Lionel Conacher, Hockey Hall of Fame, retrieved 2011-01-22
  5. ↑ Conacher 2007, p. ix
  6. 1 2 3 Honoured Members – Lionel Conacher, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, retrieved 2011-01-22
  7. ↑ Brignall 2009, p. 18
  8. 1 2 3 4 ""Big Train" Lionel Conacher Called Greatest Male Athlete of the Half Century". Canadian Sports Tribune. Toronto: The Historica-Dominion Institute. 2012. Archived from the original on 2011-01-13. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  9. ↑ Brignall 2009, p. 19
  10. 1 2 Brignall 2009, p. 22
  11. ↑ Duplacey & Zweig 2010, p. 101
  12. ↑ Clarke, Andy (1936-01-31). "Says boxing is toughest". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. p. 19. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  13. 1 2 "Lionel Conacher easily wins half century athlete award". Vancouver Sun. 1950-12-30. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
  14. ↑ Brignall 2009, p. 30
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Braunwart, Bob; Bob Carroll. "LIONEL CONACHER: Canada's Answer to Jim Thorpe". Coffin Corner: Vol. 3, No. 11 (1981). Warminster, Pennsylvania: Professional Football Researchers Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  16. ↑ Brignall 2009, p. 33
  17. ↑ Brignall 2009, pp. 34–35
  18. 1 2 "Lionel P. Conacher". Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  19. ↑ Brignall 2009, pp. 24–25
  20. ↑ Lapp 1997, pp. 15–17
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Lionel Conacher biography". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  22. 1 2 Brignall 2009, pp. 29–30
  23. ↑ Brignall 2009, p. 60
  24. ↑ Brignall 2009, pp. 61–62
  25. ↑ Brignall 2009, pp. 70–71
  26. 1 2 Podnieks 2003, p. 155
  27. ↑ Brignall 2009, p. 72
  28. ↑ "Conacher will be pro ball star, too". Regina Leader. 1926-01-30. p. 22. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
  29. ↑ "Toronto wins Little World Series". Miami Daily News. 1926-10-04. p. 9. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
  30. 1 2 3 4 "Lionel Conacher statistics". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
  31. ↑ Frayne 1974, pp. 65–67
  32. ↑ "Conacher waived by all N.H.L. clubs". Montreal Gazette. 1931-02-10. p. 17. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  33. ↑ Duplacey & Zweig 2010, p. 353
  34. ↑ "Maroons, Hawks, Canadiens, Bruins in giant puck deal". Border Cities Star. 1934-10-04. p. 5. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  35. ↑ Brignall 2009, p. 115
  36. ↑ "Montreal in pro football league". Montreal Gazette. 1933-07-26. p. 11. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  37. ↑ Brignall 2009, p. 117
  38. ↑ "Conacher is star as his team bows". Montreal Gazette. 1933-10-10. p. 12. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
  39. ↑ Brignall 2009, p. 120
  40. ↑ "Conacher's play feature as Toronto eleven wins". New York Times. 1933-10-22. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
  41. ↑ "Harold Starr to perform for Conacher's pro eleven". Border Cities Star. 1934-09-10. p. 3. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
  42. ↑ Brignall 2009, p. 123
  43. ↑ Fisher 2002, p. 157
  44. 1 2 Brignall 2009, p. 107
  45. 1 2 Brignall 2009, p. 110
  46. ↑ Brignall 2009, p. 111
  47. ↑ McNeil, Marc T. (1931-09-14). "Conacher stars as Maroons triumph over Leafs, 17–12". Montreal Gazette. p. 21.
  48. ↑ "Conacher denies he is holding out". Montreal Gazette. 1932-03-23. p. 19. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
  49. ↑ "'Big Train' elected: Lionel Conacher forsook puck for Ontario political career". The Vancouver Sun (Vancouver). 1937-10-07. p. 7. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  50. ↑ "Lionel Pretoria Conacher". Past and Present MPPs. Toronto: The Ontario Legislative Assembly. 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-30.
  51. ↑ "Three Liberal Candidates Named in Toronto Ridings: Conacher Loses". The Toronto Daily Star (Toronto). 1943-07-10. p. 3.
  52. ↑ The Canadian Press (1943-08-05). "Ontario precedent set as 2 women elected". The Montreal Gazette (Montreal). p. 12. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  53. ↑ Vipond, Jim (1954-05-31). "Monday's Sports Digest". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). p. 22.
  54. ↑ http://www.tampabay.com/sports/hockey/lightning/undrafted-free-agent-cory-conacher-in-mix-for-roster-spot-with-tampa-bay/1193124

Bibliography

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
None		 Pittsburgh Pirates captain
1925–26 		Succeeded by
Harold Cotton
Preceded by
Tommy Gorman		 Head coach of the New York Americans
1929–30 		Succeeded by
Eddie Gerard
Preceded by
Hooley Smith		 Montreal Maroons captain
1936–37 		Succeeded by
Stewart Evans
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