Donald William "Dippy" Simmons (September 13, 1931 – September 24, 2010) was a Canadian

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 ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

. He played for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

of 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 ...

between 1956 and 1969. He won the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

three times in a row with the Maple Leafs, from 1962 to 1964.

Playing career

Simmons was called up by the Boston Bruins from the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existen ...

of the minor

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

in order to replace an ailing

Terry Sawchuk Terrance Gordon Sawchuk (December 28, 1929 – May 31, 1970) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kin ...

who had left the Bruins in mid-season of 1957. He then spent 3 seasons partnering with veteran Harry Lumley as an effective netminding duo in Boston. Simmons was the second goaltender to adopt the face mask, after

Jacques Plante Joseph Jacques Omer Plante (; January 17, 1929 – February 27, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. During a career lasting from 1947 to 1975, he was considered to be one of the most important innovators in hockey. He played ...

introduced it in 1959. Later, Simmons would back up

Johnny Bower John William Bower (né Kiszkan; November 8, 1924 – December 26, 2017), nicknamed "The China Wall", was a Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender who won four Stanley Cups during his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 2017 he was named one ...

in Toronto in the early 1960s and was instrumental in the Leafs winning the Stanley Cup in 1962. He finished his career playing with the New York Rangers. Don Simmons was the founder of Don Simmons Sports, a successful Ontario franchise specializing in goalie equipment.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and achievements

* 1962

Championship (

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

) *

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

Stanley Cup Championship (Toronto) *

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

Stanley Cup Championship (Toronto) *

NHL All Star (Toronto)

External links

*
Picture of Don Simmons' name on the 1962 Stanley Cup PlaquePicture of Don Simmons' name on the 1963 Stanley Cup Plaque
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Don 1931 births 2010 deaths Baltimore Clippers players Boston Bruins players Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Canadian people of British descent Galt Rockets players Ice hockey people from Ontario Johnstown Jets (IHL) players New York Rangers players Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League (1890–1979) players People from Port Colborne Sportspeople from the Regional Municipality of Niagara Providence Reds players Rochester Americans players St. Catharines Teepees players Springfield Indians players Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players Tulsa Oilers (1964–1984) players Vancouver Canucks (WHL) players