Churchill Davidson Russell (March 16, 1923 – March 31, 1999) was a Canadian professional

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 hock ...

player. Russell played 90 games 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 ...

(NHL) for the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

over three seasons between 1945 and 1947. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1943 to 1955, was spent in various minor leagues.

Playing career

Born in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Russell played junior hockey for the Winnipeg Rangers from 1940 to 1943. In his final season, Russell helped his team win 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 ...

junior ice hockey championship. Russell played one season for the Victoria Navy team, then served in the military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Upon his return in 1945, Russell was signed by the

organization. He started with the

New York Rovers The New York Rovers were a senior ice hockey team that was established in 1935. They played in the Eastern Hockey League as a farm team of the New York Rangers. The Rovers played alongside the Rangers in Madison Square Garden (1925), Madison Square ...

but played 17 games for the Rangers in 1945–46. The following season, he played for the Rangers, scoring 20 goals and 8 assists. In 1947–48, he played only 19 games for the Rangers. In 1947, the Rangers traded him to the

Cleveland Barons The name Cleveland Barons has been used by three professional hockey teams and one junior team. *Cleveland Barons (NHL), the National Hockey League team that played between 1976 and 1978 *Cleveland Barons (1937–1973), the original American Hockey ...

for George Johnston. Russell played two seasons for the Barons, then moved on to the

Pittsburgh Hornets The Pittsburgh Hornets were a minor-league professional men's ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Contrary to popular belief, the Pittsburgh Hornets did not evolve from the International Hockey League's Pittsburgh Shamrocks. The ...

for one season and the minor-league

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

for a season. He played in some playoff games the next season for the

Winnipeg Maroons The Winnipeg Maroons were a minor League baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, which played in the Northern League from 1902–1942. Their home field from 1906 to 1922 was Happyland Park, which had a seating capacity Seating ca ...

. He did not play for two seasons, then played a final eight games for the

Brandon Wheat Kings The Brandon Wheat Kings are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Brandon, Manitoba. They are members of the Western Hockey League (WHL) since joining the league in the 1967–68 season. Previously, they played in the Manitoba Junior Hoc ...

senior ice hockey team in the 1954–55 season to finish his playing career.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and achievements

Championship (1943) * EAHL First All-Star Team (1946) * Honoured Member of the

Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum for ice hockey in Manitoba, located on the main level of the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1985, when the first honoured members were named an ...

External links

* 1923 births 1999 deaths Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey left wingers Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players New York Rangers players New York Rovers players Pittsburgh Hornets players Ice hockey people from Winnipeg Winnipeg Maroons players Winnipeg Rangers players Vancouver Canucks (WHL) players {{Manitoba-stub