John "Red" Coward (28 October 1910 – 8 February 1989), also known as Johnny Coward, was a British

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 mainly played two seasons for the Richmond Hawks in the

English National League The English National League was an early ice hockey league in England. It was founded in 1935 by most of the teams who had previously competed in the English League. It was suspended during the Second World War World War II or t ...

(ENL). However, he is best remembered for playing for the

Great Britain national ice hockey team The Great Britain men's national ice hockey team (also known as Team GB) is the national ice hockey team that represents the United Kingdom. A founding member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in 1908, the team is control ...

which won the gold medal at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

. He is a member of the

British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame The British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1948 and is the third oldest ice hockey Hall of Fame in the world, behind the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame (also founded in 1948) and the International Hockey Hall of Fame (founded in 19 ...

Ice hockey career

Although born in

Ambleside Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, Cumbria, Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern ...

in England, Coward's family emigrated to

Fort Frances Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the 2016 census was 7,739. Fort Frances is a popular fishing destination. It hosts the annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Cham ...

, Ontario where he learned to play ice hockey. Coward returned to England in 1935 when he joined the Richmond Hawks in the ENL. Coward only played for the Hawks for two seasons. However, he also played for the GB national team at the 1936 Winter Olympics, where he scored one goal in the six games he played and helped the team to win the gold medal. He also played for the 1937 GB national team which won the silver medal at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. Coward was inducted to the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993. His game worn

sweater A sweater (North American English) or pullover, also called a jumper (British English and Australian English), ...

from the 1936 Winter Olympics is also an exhibit at the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

in Toront

Post ice hockey

During World War II Coward spent four years as an instructor with the Military police, Military Police. After the war he returned to Fort Frances where he worked in a

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

until 1969. After working at the paper mill, Coward ran a

pro Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...

golf shop and coached

minor league hockey Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

Awards and honours

*Olympic gold medalist in 1936. *

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

silver medalist in 1937. * European Championship gold medalist in 1937. *Inducted to the

in 1993.

References

A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice HockeyThe Hockey Hall of FameIce Hockey Journalists UK

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coward, John 1910 births 1989 deaths British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame inductees English ice hockey left wingers English Olympic medallists Ice hockey players at the 1936 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic ice hockey players of Great Britain Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Ambleside