George Henry Parsons (June 28, 1914 – June 30, 1998) 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 ...

left winger who played 64 games with 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 ...

. Parsons suffered a career-ending eye injury in 1939, forcing him to retire from 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 ...

. Parsons later became involved with CCM hockey and the development of

hockey helmet A hockey helmet is worn by players of ice hockey, inline hockey, and bandy to help protect the head from potential injury when hit by the puck, sticks, skates, boards, other players, or the ice. The shell of a hockey helmet is generally ma ...

s and facial protection. The

George Parsons Trophy The George Parsons Trophy is awarded annually to the player judged to be the most sportsmanlike at the Memorial Cup tournament. It was first awarded in 1974. The trophy is named for George Parsons, a former Ontario Hockey Association player who ...

is given annually to the player judged to be the most sportsmanlike at 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 ...

tournament.

Playing career

Parsons played four seasons of junior ice hockey from 1930 to 1934, and appeared in the 1933 Memorial Cup as a member of the

West Toronto Nationals The West Toronto Nationals were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1929 to 1936. Prior to that time, the team was known as the West Toronto Redmen, due to their red colour sweaters. Home games were ...

, and the 1934 Memorial Cup as a member of the

Toronto Young Rangers The Toronto Young Rangers were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1937–38 until the conclusion of the 1947–48 season. While most teams in the league had an affiliation with a National Hockey League club, ...

. While still a junior in 1932, he was also used as a call-up to senior hockey teams in the Toronto Mercantile Hockey League, and the Toronto Independent Hockey League. Parsons participated in the 1935 Allan Cup with the Toronto All-Stars. Parsons signed as a free agent with the Maple Leafs on October 22, 1935. Parsons played the 1935–36 season with the International Hockey League's Syracuse Stars, then made his NHL debut playing five games with the Leafs in the 1936–37 NHL season. He finished the season as a member of the Syracuse Stars who won the inaugural

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its cur ...

in the

1936–37 AHL season The 1936–37 AHL season was the first season of the International-American Hockey League, known in the present day as the American Hockey League. The IAHL was formed when the International Hockey League and the Canadian-American Hockey League ag ...

. He began the next season with Syracuse, then moved up to the Leafs. An on-ice accident at

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 ...

against the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

resulted in Parsons losing his left eye.

''"I remember the date well. It was March 3rd, 1939. I was 24 years old.
Earl Robinson Earl Hawley Robinson (July 2, 1910 – July 20, 1991) was a composer, arranger and folk music singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Robinson is remembered for his music, including the cantata "Ballad for Americans" and songs such as " J ...
of Chicago tried to lift my stick but he hit me in the eye. When I was in the hospital the president of the league,
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 ...
, visited me and suggested that I shouldn't play again."— George Parsons''

Parsons was forced to retire from the NHL due to a rule prohibiting players with reduced sight. The league had previously adopted the

Trushinski Bylaw The National Hockey League rules are the rules governing the play of the National Hockey League (NHL), a professional ice hockey organization. Infractions of the rules, such as offside and icing, lead to a stoppage of play and subsequent to the ...

by-law which forbade players with one eye to play. It was named after a minor leagueplayer named Frank Trushinski, who had lost sight in one eye, and then lost most of the sight in his other eye.

CCM hockey

Parsons became involved with CCM hockey, helping to develop helmets and facial protection that would be safer for players. Within CCM, he was the North American sales manager to vice-president of product development. By early 1976, CCM had developed a hockey helmet complete with eye and face shield and lower face protector that was both approved by the

Canadian Standards Association The CSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association; CSA) is a standards organization which develops standards in 57 areas. CSA publishes standards in print and electronic form, and provides training and advisory services. CSA is composed ...

and endorsed by the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction include ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, George 1914 births 1998 deaths Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian ice hockey left wingers Canadian sports businesspeople Ice hockey people from Ontario Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League (1890–1979) players Sportspeople from Toronto Syracuse Stars (AHL) players Syracuse Stars (IHL) players Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto Young Rangers players