Charles William "The Big Bomber" Conacher, Sr. (December 20, 1909 – December 30, 1967) was a Canadian
professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
forward who played for the
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
,
Detroit Red Wings and
New York Americans
The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play ...
in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
. An early
power forward
The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...
, Conacher was nicknamed "The Big Bomber," for his size, powerful shot and goal scoring. He led the NHL five times in goals, and twice led in overall scoring. Over five seasons from 1931-32 to 1935-36 Conacher was named to three
NHL First All-Star Teams and two NHL Second All-Star Teams. He is an Honoured Member of the
Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2013, Charlie Conacher was inducted into the
Ontario Sports Hall of Fame
The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure ...
. In 2017 Conacher was named one of the '
100 Greatest NHL Players
In 2017, the National Hockey League commemorated its 100th anniversary with a list of the 100 Greatest NHL Players. The list was made through voting compiled by a panel of 58 people, including media members, NHL alumni and NHL executives.Greg Wys ...
' in history.
Junior career
Conacher played three years of junior hockey, most notably with the
Toronto Marlboros
The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...
. Playing with future Maple Leafs teammate
Harvey "Busher" Jackson, he achieved staggering scoring numbers, leading the Marlboros to the
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...
playoffs in 1928 and 1929. In 28 playoff games with the Marlies in those two seasons, Conacher scored 50 goals, including 28 goals in the 1929 playoffs to lead his team to a Memorial Cup championship, its first of six eventual titles.
Professional career
Signed the next season by the Maple Leafs with
Busher Jackson
Ralph Harvey Jackson (January 17, 1911June 25, 1966) was a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey player. Jackson played 15 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons between 1929 and 1944 for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Americans, and Bo ...
, Toronto manager
Conn Smythe
Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe, Military Cross, MC (; February 1, 1895 – November 18, 1980) was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs ...
paired the two with former farmhand
Joe Primeau
Alfred Joseph Francis "Gentleman Joe" Primeau (January 29, 1906 – May 14, 1989), was a Canadian professional ice hockey player.
Playing career
Born in Lindsay, Ontario, and raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Primeau moved to Toronto at an e ...
. The trio, nicknamed the "
Kid Line" for their inexperience - Primeau was 23, Conacher and Jackson both 18 - became an immediate sensation in Toronto, as Conacher scored his first NHL goal in Toronto's opening 2-2 tie with the
Chicago Black Hawks
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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on November 14. Although he missed six games at the end of the season with an infected hand, he finished the season with 20 goals.
The following season, Conacher broke into the elite of the league, despite missing a number of games due to a reinjured hand. He scored 31 goals - the first of five times he led the league in goal scoring - and finishing third overall in points to
Howie Morenz
Howard William Morenz (September 21, 1902 – March 8, 1937) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Beginning in 1923, he played centre for three National Hockey League (NHL) teams: the Montreal Canadiens (in two stints), the Chicago Blac ...
and
Ebbie Goodfellow
Ebenezer Robertson Goodfellow (April 9, 1907 – September 10, 1985) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Goodfellow played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for fourteen seasons with the Detroit Red Wings from 1929 to 1944 a ...
. Primeau finished 6th in league scoring as well, and Jackson 15th.
The 1932 season saw the team move into the new
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...
. In return for Black Hawk
Johnny Gottselig
Johannes “Johnny” Gottselig (russian: Иван Гоцелиг) (June 24, 1905 – May 15, 1986) was a professional ice hockey left winger who played 16 seasons for the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1928 and 19 ...
, whom Smythe coveted, Chicago asked for Conacher and star defenceman
King Clancy
Francis Michael "King" Clancy (February 25, 1902 – November 8, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, referee, coach and executive. Clancy played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto ...
for compensation, to which Smythe reportedly cabled that
Santa Claus lived at the
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
, not in Maple Leaf Gardens. Once again, Conacher missed time with a broken hand, during which a curious incident took place. League rules stated that a player receiving a third major penalty in the season would receive a one-game suspension. Conacher had two at the time of his injury, but he was dressed by coach Irvin. According to another league rule, any player jumping on the ice while his team was at full strength received a major penalty, and Irvin had Conacher do so, thus triggering his automatic suspension for a game in which he could not play anyway. With
Dick Irvin
James Dickinson "Dick" Irvin Jr. (or II) (July 19, 1892 – May 16, 1957) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He played for professional teams in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the Western Canada Hockey League, and th ...
the new coach of the Leafs, the Kid Line shone, leading Toronto to a
Stanley Cup championship. Jackson led the league in scoring, Primeau was second and Conacher - used sparingly after his return from his injury - fourth, while once again leading the league in goals and being named to the Second All-Star Team, his best game coming in an 11-3 romp over the New York Americans in which he scored five goals.
A broken collarbone sidelined Conacher for weeks in the
1933 season - the only one in a six-year stretch in which he failed to lead the league in goals - but he was once again named to the Second All-Star Team at right wing.
![NHL Kid Line 1930s](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/NHL_Kid_Line_1930s.jpg)
The next three seasons saw Conacher cemented among the top players in the game, as he regained his form and led the league in goal scoring all three seasons and in points in
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...
and
1935, being named First Team All-Star all three seasons, years in which the Leafs finished as runner-up in the Stanley Cup finals. Things would change in
1937; Primeau and Clancy retired, while Conacher broke a wrist in training camp, an injury initially thought not serious. However, Conacher would only play 15 games that season and 19 the next after suffering a dislocated shoulder, as chronic injuries caught up to him, and he never again regained his form.
The Detroit Red Wings, seeking to improve their team, purchased Conacher in the fall of
1939 for a sum reported to be $16,000, and contingent on him remaining in good health. While he finished fourth on the Wings in scoring with 23 points, his days as a superstar were over. He was optioned the following season to the New York Americans, where he played his final two seasons paired on defence with former
Montreal Maroons
The Montreal Maroons (officially the Montreal Professional Hockey Club) were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935. They were the las ...
star
Hooley Smith. The Amerks, who had loaded up with once-great players like Conacher, Smith, Busher Jackson,
Eddie Shore
Edward William Shore (November 23, 1902 – March 16, 1985) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, principally for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, and the longtime owner of the Springfield Indians of the American Hocke ...
and
Nels Stewart
Robert Nelson "Old Poison" Stewart (December 29, 1899 – August 21, 1957) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Maroons, New York Americans and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League. He is an Honoure ...
, were notably slow and finished in last place both seasons, although Conacher played credibly, finished 3rd and 5th respectively in team scoring and serving as the Americans' captain both years. Only 30, Conacher retired after the
1941 season.
Retirement and legacy
After his retirement, Conacher went into coaching, meeting with remarkable success: he led the junior league
Oshawa Generals of the
Ontario Hockey Association to four straight OHA Championships between 1941 and 1944, as well as three straight Eastern Canada amateur championships in 1942, 1943 and 1944, and the Memorial Cup Championship in 1944. The Generals finished in second place in both 1946 and 1947 - coincidentally, losing in both seasons to the
St. Michael's College Majors, coached by his old linemate Joe Primeau.
After resigning from his coaching post in Oshawa, Conacher was named to replace Johnny Gottselig as coach of the
Chicago Black Hawks
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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28 games into the
1949 season. As a coach, Conacher was involved in a notable altercation when Detroit Times writer Lew Walter tried to interview him after the Red Wings defeated Chicago 9–2 on February 8, 1950. Conacher, who exploded in anger, criticized Walter's past stories and punched Walter, knocking him down to the floor. Walter announced that he would seek a warrant for Conacher's arrest. NHL president Clarence Campbell took a dim view of Conacher's actions and fined him $200. Conacher then phoned Walter and apologized, saying he regretted what had taken place. Over his three seasons at the helm, Conacher coached the Black Hawks - a team on which his younger brother
Roy
Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin.
In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...
played - to 6th, 5th and 6th-place finishes respectively, after which he was fired in favor of
Ebbie Goodfellow
Ebenezer Robertson Goodfellow (April 9, 1907 – September 10, 1985) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Goodfellow played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for fourteen seasons with the Detroit Red Wings from 1929 to 1944 a ...
.
Conacher had nine siblings, including Hockey Hall of Famers
Lionel Conacher
Lionel Pretoria Conacher, MP (; 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. ...
and
Roy Conacher
Roy Gordon Conacher (October 5, 1916 – December 29, 1984) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks. He was the ...
. His son,
Pete Conacher
Charles William "Pete" Conacher, Jr. (born July 29, 1932) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played 229 games in the National Hockey League between 1951 and 1957. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1951 to 1966, was ...
, played in the NHL, as did nephews
Brian Conacher and Murray Henderson. He was inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961 and, later, to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. In 1998, he was ranked number 36 on ''
The Hockey News
''The Hockey News'' (''THN'') is a Canadian-based ice hockey magazine. ''The Hockey News'' was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Will Cote and has since become the most recognized hockey publication in North America. The magazine has a readers ...
list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. Lionel's son,
Lionel Jr. was a
CFL
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
football player.
Conacher died in 1967 of throat cancer just ten days after his 58th birthday, and was buried in the
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Mount Pleasant Cemetery is a cemetery located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries. It was opened in November 1876 and is located north of Moore Park, a neighbourhood of Toronto. The cemetery has k ...
.
The
Charlie Conacher Humanitarian Award
The Charlie Conacher Humanitarian Award (or Charlie Conacher Memorial Trophy) was an award given to a National Hockey League (NHL) player who made "outstanding contribution to humanitarian or community service projects". It was established in 1968 ...
was an award named after Conacher. It was given out to the NHL player who best exhibited outstanding humanitarian and public services contributions, and was awarded from 1968 to 1984.
Career statistics
* Stanley Cup Champion.
Coaching record
See also
*
Notable families in the NHL
This is a list of family relations in the National Hockey League. Since the creation of the National Hockey League in 1917, family members have been involved in all aspects of the league. Although most connections are among players, there have bee ...
*
List of ice hockey line nicknames
The three forwards – the centre, right wing and left wing – operate as a unit called a line. The tradition of naming the threesomes who compose the hockey teams' lines of attack extends back to the inaugural 1917–18 NHL season, when Didie ...
*
List of players with 5 or more goals in an NHL game
References
*
*
Footnotes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conacher, Charlie
1909 births
1967 deaths
Burials at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Canadian ice hockey right wingers
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Chicago Blackhawks coaches
Detroit Red Wings players
Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Memorial Cup winners
National Hockey League scoring leaders (prior to 1947–48)
New York Americans players
Oshawa Generals coaches
Sportspeople from Toronto
Stanley Cup champions
Toronto Maple Leafs players
Toronto Marlboros players
Canadian ice hockey coaches
Deaths from throat cancer
Deaths from cancer in Ontario