Joseph John Oswald "Jake" Sheppard (July 27, 1902 – August 28, 1969) 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 h ...

forward who played nine 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 ...

with the Detroit Cougars,

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 ...

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

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 ...

from

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of Viet ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

. Johnny was the brother of the former NHL player, Frank Sheppard. He was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, but grew up in

Selkirk, Manitoba Selkirk is a city in the western Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba, located on the Red River of the North, Red River about northeast of the provincial capital Winnipeg. It has a population of 10,504 as of the 202 ...

Playing career

Sheppard began his career with the Selkirk Jr. Fisherman of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and Edmonton Eskimos 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 ...

. He joined the Detroit Cougars in the team's inaugural season of 1926–27, in which he played 43 games and led the team in

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

(13), assists (8), points (21), and penalty minutes (60). On November 22, 1927, Sheppard scored the first goal at the new Detroit Olympia against Ottawa Senators'

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

Alex Connell Alexander "The Ottawa Fireman" Connell (February 8, 1902 — May 10, 1958) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Falcons, New York Americans and Montreal Maroons teams in the National Hock ...

.DetroitRedWings.com: Wings of Legend
Sheppard was traded to the New York Americans, where he played five seasons and posted career highs in goals (17 in 1932–33) and points (29 in 1929–30). He also played for the

Bronx Tigers The Bronx Tigers were a minor professional ice hockey team that played in the Canadian American Hockey League (CAHL) in 1931–32. They were also an amateur team that played in the Eastern Hockey League (EHL) in 1933–34 and 1937–38 ...

of the

Canadian-American Hockey League Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadian ...

in 1931–32. Before his final NHL season in 1933–34, Sheppard was traded from the Americans to the Bruins, who released him after four games. He signed with the Black Hawks and helped the team win the Stanley Cup.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and achievements

* Stanley Cup Championships (1934)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Johnny 1902 births 1969 deaths Boston Bruins players Bronx Tigers players Canadian ice hockey left wingers Chicago Blackhawks players Detroit Cougars players Edmonton Eskimos (ice hockey) players Ice hockey people from Manitoba New York Americans players People from Selkirk, Manitoba Seattle Seahawks (ice hockey) players Selkirk Jr. Fishermen players Stanley Cup champions