Norman Boswell "Hec" Fowler (October 14, 1892 – July 30, 1987) was a two-sport athlete from Canada. He was a 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 ...

goaltender who played in the

Pacific Coast Hockey Association The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was co ...

and

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

between 1916 and 1925. He was also a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

goalkeeper for Saskatoon Thistle. He was the last surviving former player of the

Spokane Canaries The Spokane Canaries (officially ''Spokane Hockey Club'') were a professional ice hockey team in Spokane, Washington. They played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association for only one season in 1916–17. In the fall of 1916, the Canadian governm ...

Playing career

Fowler played for various senior league teams in his hometown of

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

from 1909 to 1916, appearing in the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are th ...

playoffs in 1916, before turning professional with the

of the PCHA in 1917. The Canaries, citing poor attendance, disbanded for the following season, and while Fowler had played poorly for Spokane, the defending

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 ...

champion

Seattle Metropolitans The Seattle Metropolitans were a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle, Washington, which played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1915 to 1924. During their nine seasons, the Metropolitans were the PCHA's most successf ...

were confident enough to sign him as their goaltender. With Fowler at the helm, the Mets won the league championship but were upset in the playoffs by the

Vancouver Millionaires The Vancouver Millionaires (later known as the Vancouver Maroons) were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926. Based in Vancouver, British ...

. At that point, Fowler enlisted in the military for the last year of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and when he mustered out of the service, signed with the Victoria Cougars for the 1920 season. Most spectacularly, he turned aside three penalty shots in a match against the Millionaires on December 12, 1921. He played five seasons in all for the Cougars before being sold to the expansion

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 ...

of the

in October

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hold ...

. Behind a weak defense, Fowler was repeatedly shelled, and it was reported that he was displeased with the team's direction. In his last game with Boston, he allowed nine goals in 49 minutes against the

Toronto St. Patricks The Toronto St. Patricks (colloquially known as the St. Pats) were a professional ice hockey team which began playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1919. The Toronto NHL franchise (league membership) had previously been held by the Arena ...

before leaving the ice on his own; he was replaced in net by left winger

George Redding George "Shorty" Redding (March 6, 1900 in — October 17, 1974) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left wing. He played 33 games for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League over two seasons, 1924–25 and 1925–26. The rest of his ...

. Fowler admitted to a

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of t ...

reporter afterwards that he was deliberately letting in goals, so that the Bruins would be embarrassed enough by the loss to obtain better players. As a result, he was suspended indefinitely by Boston, fined $200 and ultimately released. He signed with the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...

of the

Western Canada Hockey League The Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926. The WCHL's Victoria C ...

to finish the season, but took the next year off. Fowler played one more season in Edmonton in 1927, then three for the Oakland Sheiks of the professional California Hockey League between 1928 and 1931 – leading the team to consecutive championships his last two seasons – before retiring.

Lacrosse

As with many other players of the era, Fowler was a lacrosse player in the summers, serving as secretary of the Vancouver Lacrosse Club and acting as an umpire, referee and timekeeper in matches.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and achievements

* PCHA First All-Star Team in 1917. * PCHA Second All-Star Team in 1918.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Hec 1892 births 1987 deaths Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Canadian military personnel of World War I Edmonton Eskimos (ice hockey) players Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Seattle Metropolitans players Spokane Canaries players Sportspeople from Saskatoon Victoria Aristocrats players Victoria Cougars (1911–1926) players