Floyd James "Busher" Curry (August 11, 1925 – September 16, 2006) 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 ...

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Curry was born in 1925 in

Chapleau, Ontario Chapleau is a township in Sudbury District, Ontario, Canada. It is home to one of the world's largest wildlife preserves. Chapleau has a population of 1,942 according to the 2016 Canadian census. The major industries within the town are the logg ...

and raised in

Kirkland Lake Kirkland Lake is a town and municipality in Timiskaming District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The 2016 population, according to Statistics Canada, was 7,981. The community name was based on a nearby lake which in turn was named after Winnifre ...

by his parents Dalton and Mable Curry. He played junior hockey with the

Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...

and starred for the team. Curry won 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 ...

in 1944 with the Generals. The

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

realized his potential and signed him. He played for the Montreal Royals before being brought up to the Canadiens. Curry played his entire

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 ...

career with the

. His career started in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

and ended in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

. During his time with Montreal, Curry won four

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 ...

s in 1953, 1956, 1957, and 1958. Curry recorded his only career

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

on October 29, 1951, a night when Princess Elizabeth, soon to become

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, was in attendance at the

Montreal Forum Montreal Forum (french: Le Forum de Montréal) is a historic building located facing Cabot Square in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by ''Sporting News'', it was an indoor arena which served as the h ...

. After retiring as a player, Curry coached the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

, then went on to work for the Canadiens' front office for over forty years, starting out as director of sales and travel secretary. In the summer of 1968, he was promoted to assistant general manager. During the summer of 1970 Curry became the manager-coach of the

Montreal Voyageurs Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, replacing

Al MacNeil Allister Wences MacNeil (born September 27, 1935) is a former National Hockey League player and coach. He was the first native of Atlantic Canada to serve as a head coach in the NHL. Career He played parts of eleven seasons in the National Hockey ...

who was promoted to assistant coach (later coach) of the

. MacNeil returned to become manager-coach of the Voyageurs, now the

Nova Scotia Voyageurs The Nova Scotia Voyageurs were a professional ice hockey team, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atl ...

, in the summer of 1971, after winning the Stanley Cup. Curry returned to the Canadiens as assistant general manager. He remained in that position until 1978, and then stayed on with Montreal as director of scouting for a couple more years. During his time in Montreal in management and scouting, Curry was awarded Stanley Cup rings in 1969, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. Curry's name was added to the Cup in 1977 and 1978. Curry died at a Montreal hospital on September 16, 2006. He was survived by his wife of 61 years, June, and his two daughters.

Career statistics

External links

*
Picture of Floyd Curry's name on the 1958 Stanley Cup plaqueFormer Canadien Curry dies at 81
1925 births 2006 deaths Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey right wingers Ice hockey people from Ontario Ice hockey people from Montreal Montreal Canadiens executives Montreal Canadiens players Oshawa Generals players People from Chapleau, Ontario Rochester Americans players Stanley Cup champions {{canada-icehockey-winger-1920s-stub

Career statistics

See also

External links