Harold William "Baldy" Cotton (November 5, 1902 – September 9, 1984) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

player who played 12 seasons 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 ...

for 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 ...

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 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 ...

Playing career

Cotton's hockey career began in Pittsburgh after moving there to attend

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...

. In 1925, he began playing for the

Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets was the name of three separate ice hockey teams based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The original team was part of the United States Amateur Hockey Association (USAHA) from 1920 to 1925 and developed from predecessors dating ...

of the United States Amateur Hockey Association while attending school. He would later sign with the NHL's Pittsburgh Pirates, playing with the club for parts of 4 seasons. He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the middle of the 1928–29 season and would record a career high 38 points the following year in his first full season with Toronto. Cotton won his only

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 ...

playing for the Maple Leafs in 1931–32. In 1935, Cotton was sold to the New York Americans where he played for two more seasons until his retirement in 1937.

Front office

After playing professional hockey, Cotton served as a scout 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 ...

and

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

, retiring from hockey permanently in 1977.

Awards and achievements

* 1931–32 - Stanley Cup Champion - Toronto Maple Leafs * 1933–34 - Played in

Ace Bailey Benefit Game The Ace Bailey Benefit Game was the first all-star game in National Hockey League (NHL) history. It was played on February 14, 1934, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto to raise money to support Ace Bailey, whose career was ended by a violent hit by ...

Transactions

*Signed as a free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates, September 26, 1925. *Traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Toronto Maple Leafs for

Gerry Lowrey Gerald Charles Lowrey (February 14, 1905 – October 20, 1979) was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played six seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Quakers, Chicago Black Hawks and O ...

and $9,500, February 12, 1929. *Sold by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the NY Americans for cash, October 9, 1935.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

External links

Biography & stats
- Legends of Hockey * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotton, Harold 1902 births 1984 deaths Boston Bruins scouts Canadian ice hockey forwards Duquesne University alumni Ice hockey people from Ontario Minnesota North Stars scouts New York Americans players Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL) players Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets (USAHA) players Sportspeople from Haldimand County Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players