William Ian Nelson Crutchfield (July 12, 1911 — July 22, 1985), known as Nels Crutchfield, was a Canadian 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 hock ...

player. Born in Knowlton,

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 ...

, he played

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

and

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 ...

for the

McGill Redmen The McGill Redbirds (formerly the McGill Redmen) and McGill Martlets are the varsity athletic teams that represent McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Team name According to Suzanne Morton, a professor of history at McGill, the name ...

from 1930 to 1934 and was team captain from 1933 to 1934. He received a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

degree in 1934. He played 41 games in the 1934–35 season with the

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 ...

, recording 5 goals and 5 assists, with another assist in two playoff games that year. His career was cut short after receiving a fractured skull in a car accident in September 1935. He died in another car accident in 1985 in

Huntsville, Ontario Huntsville is a town in Muskoka. It is located north of Toronto and south of North Bay. Of the three big Muskoka towns, it is the largest by population (21,147 per 2021 census) and land area (710.64 km2). Huntsville is located in the ...

. Crutchfield was inducted into the

McGill University Sports Hall of Fame McGill is a surname of Scottish and Irish origin, from which the names of many places and organizations are derived. It may refer to: People * McGill (surname) (including a list of individuals with the surname) * McGill family (Monrovia), a promin ...

in 2001.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crutchfield, Nels 1911 births 1985 deaths Accidental deaths in Ontario Anglophone Quebec people Canadian ice hockey centres Ice hockey people from Quebec McGill Redbirds and Martlets ice hockey players Montreal Canadiens players Sportspeople from Montérégie Road incident deaths in Canada