John Ronald McCormack (August 2, 1925 – February 22, 2017) 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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. He played in the

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 ...

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 ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, and

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 ...

between 1948 and 1955. He was born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Playing career

McCormack's hockey career started off in the local Edmonton hockey leagues. As a star in the Juvenile division, McCormack's coach was in touch with the coach of the Hollywood Wolves who had other Edmonton players such as Harry Black, the father of

Bud Black Harry Ralston "Bud" Black (born June 30, 1957) is an American professional baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Colorado Rockies. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher from 1981 through 1995, most notably ...

, and a 16 he went to Southern California. When the war threatened to end the SCHL, McCormack found his way to the St. Michael's Majors in

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 anch ...

. The Majors won 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 ...

in 1945. In those 9 playoff games McCormack had 10 goals and assisted on 11 others. After the playoffs McCormack enlisted in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

. In 1948 John played 3 games for the

but spent the majority of the time with the

Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies is owned by Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

. In 1949–50, the Marlies won the Allan Cup. John contributed 7 goals and 8 assists in the 13 playoff games. In 1950 while with the AHL Pittsburgh Hornets, McCormack played in the Calder Cup final, though the Hornets lost to the Cleveland Barons in 7 games. McCormack had 6 goals and 9 assists in the 13 playoff matches. McCormack played with the Stanley Cup winning Toronto Maple Leafs in 1950–51. After the season he was sold to the

. The Canadiens went on to win the Cup in

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

. McCormack played in the NHL for 8 seasons finishing his career with the

before returning to Edmonton as player coach for the hometown Flyers and to raise his family.

Post-playing career

McCormack graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

in 1949 and rather than join the Leafs, he thought he would study for the priesthood and entered St. Joseph's Seminary in Edmonton. He discovered that the priesthood was not his calling and returned to play with the Leafs in 1950. In 1951 McCormack married Margaret Anne Gordon, a recent nursing graduate from the Hospital for Sick Children. Conn Smythe, Leaf's owner, generously provide a honeymoon to Pittsburgh for the couple. McCormack went on to a successful business career mostly spent in the steel industry including starting his own business. He died in 2017.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCormack, John 1925 births 2017 deaths Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey centres Chicago Blackhawks players Edmonton Flyers (WHL) players Ice hockey people from Edmonton Montreal Canadiens players Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League (1890–1979) players Pittsburgh Hornets players Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto Marlboros players Toronto St. Michael's Majors players Tulsa Oilers (USHL) players