James Patrick "Flat" Walsh (March 23, 1897 — December 2, 1959) was a Canadian

professional ice hockey Professional ice hockey (hockey) is the competition of ice hockey in which participants are paid to play. Professional competition began in North America in the United States in Pennsylvania and Michigan and in Canada around 1900. Professional ice ...

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 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

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 ...

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 ...

between 1927 and 1933. Much of his career, which spanned 1915 through 1933, was spent in various minor leagues.

Biography

Walsh was one of the first back-up goaltenders in NHL history, as the

kept him as a spare for the great

Clint Benedict Clinton Stevenson "Praying Benny" Benedict (September 26, 1892 – November 12, 1976) was a Canadian professional lacrosse goalie, ice hockey goaltender who played for the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Maroons. He played on four Stanley Cup-win ...

in case of injury. He played one game during the 1926–27 season and one game in 1927–28. In 1928–29,

Roy Worters Roy Thomas "Shrimp" Worters (October 19, 1900 November 7, 1957) was a Canadian professional Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender who played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Canadiens and New York American ...

was suspended by NHL president

Frank Calder Frank Sellick Calder (November 17, 1877 – February 4, 1943) was a British-born Canadian ice hockey executive, journalist, and athlete. Calder was the first president of the National Hockey League (NHL), from 1917 until his death in 1943. He ...

for not reporting to the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. Worters was sold to the

, but the Pirates failed to inform Calder of these arrangements and Calder, on his dignity, refused to lift Worters' suspension. As a result, the Americans borrowed Walsh for a few games and he did quite well. In 1929–30, after Clint Benedict broke his nose on a

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 ...

shot, Walsh became the Maroons regular goaltender. The following year, James Strachan felt that Walsh could not handle the goaltending alone and Walsh shared the goaltending with

Dave Kerr David Alexander Kerr (January 11, 1909 – May 11, 1978) was a Canadian NHL goaltender who played for the Montreal Maroons, New York Americans and New York Rangers. Playing career He played amateur hockey before joining the NHL, winning the Al ...

. In 1931–32, Walsh shared the goaltending chores with

Normie Smith Norman Eugene Smith (March 18, 1908 – February 2, 1988) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Montreal Maroons and the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League. Rookie career Smith enjoyed much success in ...

. Kerr was back to share the goaltending with Walsh in 1932–33, but Walsh came down with

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

which he suffered for a full two weeks and he decided to retire, which saddened Montreal fans, as he was popular with them. After his retirement, Walsh served as assistant coach with the Maroons in 1934–35. He competed in

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

in the 1940s. Walsh died in December 1959; he was survived by his wife and two children.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Sources

References

External links

* 1897 births 1959 deaths Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Detroit Greyhounds players Ice hockey people from Ontario Montreal Maroons players New Haven Eagles players New York Americans players Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League (1890–1979) players Quebec Castors players Sportspeople from Kingston, Ontario Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States {{Canada-icehockey-goaltender-stub