James Angus Gerald "Old Hardrock" Mortson (January 24, 1925 – August 8, 2015) 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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

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). He played for 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 ...

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 ...

, and

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

, winning 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 with Toronto. He also played in eight NHL All Star Games.

Early career

Mortson grew up in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

. He joined the St. Michael's Majors of the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

Jr. league in 1943–44 and played two seasons for them. He then turned professional and played for the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

in 1945–46, compiling 48 points in 51 games."Gus Mortson"
legendsofhockey.net. Retrieved February 27, 2014.

National Hockey League

In 1946–47 Mortson joined the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs, where he played for the next six seasons. He and fellow defenceman Jim Thomson were known as the "

Gold Dust Twins The Gold Dust Twins, the trademark for Fairbank's Gold Dust washing powder products, appeared in printed media as early as 1892. "Goldie" and "Dusty", the original Gold Dust Twins, were often shown doing household chores together. In general us ...

", and the two helped the Maple Leafs win Stanley Cups in 1947, 1948, 1949, and 1951. In the 1948 All Star game, Mortson and

Gordie Howe Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seaso ...

squared off and, as of 2015, are the only players to fight in an NHL All-Star Game. In 1950, Mortson was named to the league's first all-star team. In 1952 Mortson was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks, along with

Cal Gardner Calvin Pearly "Ginger, Red, Torchy" Gardner (October 30, 1924 – October 10, 2001) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player in the NHL. In 1943, after playing professional hockey for three years and winning the Memorial Cup, he joined the Ca ...

Ray Hannigan Raymond James Hannigan (July 14, 1927 — July 18, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger. He played 3 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League during the 1948–49 season. The rest of his career, which ...

, and

Al Rollins Elwin Ira Rollins (October 9, 1926 – July 27, 1996) was a professional Canadian ice hockey goaltender who played for the Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Playing career Before joining the NHL, Rollins played ...

, for Harry Lumley. Mortson played for the Black Hawks for six seasons. In 1956–57 he led the league in penalty minutes for the fourth time. He was then traded to the Detroit Red Wings in 1958 and played one season for them. Mortson played 797 games and had 198 points and 1,380 penalty minutes in his 13-year NHL career. He was known for his physical play and got into numerous fights.

Later career

After his NHL career ended, Mortson played professional hockey with the

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 ...

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, and retired in 1967 while playing semi-professional with the Oakville Oaks of the Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League.

Post-hockey and death

After retirement from hockey Mortson was involved in the food and beverage business and lived in

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...

. In 1970, he moved to

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...

becoming a stockbroker and later as a mining company representative. He died in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, on August 8, 2015. He was 90 years old, survived by wife Sheila and six children, and predeceased by one son."Former Maple Leafs defenceman Gus Mortson dies"

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...

. Retrieved August 9, 2015.

Awards and achievements

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 ...

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 ...

) * 1948

Championship (

) *

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

Championship (

) *

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

Championship (

) *

NHL All-Star The National Hockey League All-Star Game (french: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey, links=no) is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many o ...

(

) * 1948

(

) * 1950

(

) *

(

) * 1952

(

) *

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

(

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) *

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

(

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

) *

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

(

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

)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Bold indicates led league

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mortson, Gus 1925 births 2015 deaths Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chatham Maroons (IHL) players Chicago Blackhawks captains Detroit Red Wings players Ice hockey people from Ontario Memorial Cup winners Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League (1890–1979) players Sportspeople from Temiskaming Shores Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto St. Michael's Majors players Tulsa Oilers (USHL) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States