Joseph Wallace McCormick (August 12, 1894 – June 14, 1958) 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 ...

-born

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, from

Buckingham, Quebec Buckingham is a former town located in the Outaouais region in the western portion of the province of Quebec, Canada. Since 1 January 2002, it has been part of the amalgamated city of Gatineau, which merged five former municipalities, including ...

. Early in his career, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he played in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

for the Duquesne Garden and

Pittsburgh Athletic Association The Pittsburgh Athletic Association was a gentlemen's club, private social club and club (organization), athletic club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, USA. Its clubhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located a ...

teams. In 1918, Joe enlisted in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. His older brother,

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, followed his lead shortly afterwards. Joe served in the Army in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

during the war. Because the brothers held an

honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

from the Army, they were entitled to automatic US citizenship and on March 17, 1920, just five weeks before playing in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

, they both became naturalized Americans. He was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

on the 1920 American ice hockey team, which eventually won the silver medal. He returned to Pittsburgh and played for the

Yellow Jackets Yellowjacket or yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory social wasps of the genera ''Vespula'' and ''Dolichovespula''. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries. Most of these ...

until March 30, 1922. He was one of the leading scorers in the amateur ranks throughout his career. The January 23, 1922 issue of the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'' described McCormick as "one of the cleanest and fairest players to ever don a uniform". The ''Post-Gazette'' also stated that he had one of the most powerful shots in hockey, "shooting past goaltenders from 50 feet away". He later ended his career with the Portland Rosebuds in 1925. On October 7, 1925, McCormick was traded to Portland along with Bobby Trapp in exchange for

Eddie Shore Edward William Shore (November 23, 1902 – March 16, 1985) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, principally for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, and the longtime owner of the Springfield Indians of the American Hocke ...

and Art Gagne.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCormick, Joseph 1894 births 1958 deaths American men's ice hockey forwards Anglophone Quebec people Canadian emigrants to the United States Edmonton Eskimos (ice hockey) players Ice hockey people from Gatineau Ice hockey players at the 1920 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey Sportspeople from Outaouais Pittsburgh Athletic Association ice hockey players Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets (USAHA) players Portland Rosebuds players St. Paul Athletic Club ice hockey players United States Army personnel of World War I