William George Cockburn (March 1, 1902 – March 21, 1975) 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 hock ...

player who competed in the

1932 Winter Olympics The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lake Placid 1932, were a winter multi-sport event in the United States, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February ...

. He later became a coach in the Winnipeg area.

Early life

Cockburn was born 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 ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and grew up in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. He played junior hockey for the

Winnipeg Tigers The Winnipeg Tammany Tigers football team was a Canadian football team in Winnipeg, Manitoba that played in the Manitoba Rugby Football Union and Western Canada Rugby Football Union between 1913 and 1929. On May 14, 1930 the Tammany Tigers disband ...

from 1918 to 1922. In 1922, he graduated to senior hockey with the Winnipeg Tammany Tigers. He played until 1926 with several Winnipeg senior teams.

Career

In 1926, Cockburn moved to

Montreal, Quebec 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-pea ...

, where he worked as a

grain merchant The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...

. Cockburn played for various senior teams in Montreal, including the

Montreal Victorias The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. ...

which went to the 1928 Allan Cup final. In 1928, Cockburn return to Winnipeg. He played the next four seasons of senior hockey, including the

Winnipeg Hockey Club The Winnipeg Hockey Club (also known as the Winnipeg Winnipegs) were a former amateur senior-level men's amateur ice hockey team in Winnipeg, Manitoba founded in 1890. After the Winnipegs won the 1931 Allan Cup, they represented the Canada men's ...

, which won the

1931 Allan Cup The 1931 Allan Cup was the Canadian senior ice hockey championship for the 1930–31 season. It was won by the Winnipeg Hockey Club. This team also won the Keane Memorial Cup as Winnipeg's city champions, the Pattinson Cup as Manitoba's provinci ...

. As Allan Cup champions, the team was selected to represent Canada at the 1932 Winter Olympics. The club won the gold medal for Canada. He played five matches as

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 ...

. Cockburn retired from ice hockey after the Olympics, though he is recorded as playing the occasional game. He became an ice hockey coach in the Winnipeg area.

Awards and achievements

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...

Championship (1931) *Honoured Member of the

Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum for ice hockey in Manitoba, located on the main level of the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1985, when the first honoured members were named an ...

External links

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William Cockburn’s biography
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1902 births 1975 deaths Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey players at the 1932 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1932 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic ice hockey players for Canada Olympic medalists in ice hockey Ice hockey people from Toronto Ice hockey people from Winnipeg Winnipeg Hockey Club players {{Canada-Winter-Olympic-medalist-stub