Fr. Leslie John Thomas Costello (February 16, 1928 – December 10, 2002) was a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player and Catholic priest. He was born in

South Porcupine The city of Timmins, Ontario, Canada contains many named neighbourhoods. Some former municipalities that were merged into Timmins continue to be treated as distinct postal and telephone exchanges from the city core. According to Barnes, "With the ...

, Ontario, a neighbourhood of

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of ...

, and played hockey as a teenager, eventually joining Toronto's St. Michael's Majors in the 1940s, winning the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

twice with the team in 1945 and 1947. He subsequently played two years in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

for 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. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

, including the

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

championship team. His brother

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trus ...

was also a professional hockey player. Costello retired from professional hockey in 1950 to pursue

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

studies at St. Augustine's Seminary, and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 1957. After serving briefly in

Kirkland Lake Kirkland Lake is a town and municipality in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Timiskaming District of Northeastern Ontario. The 2021 population, according to Statistics Canada, was 7,750. The community name was based on a nearby lake which in turn ...

, he took a parish in his hometown of Timmins, where he was widely respected for both his flamboyant, fun-loving demeanor and his tireless commitment to social justice and charity work.

Flying Fathers

In 1963, Costello and colleague Brian McKee founded the Flying Fathers, a group of Catholic priests who played

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

hockey. Originally intended as a one-time charity event, the Fathers became a phenomenon, regularly touring North America to raise money for charity, and were still active as of 2005. In 1979, Costello got lost for over 24 hours on a camping trip and subsequently had several toes amputated due to

frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when someone is exposed to extremely low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occ ...

. Although his disability significantly impaired his skating ability, he continued his involvement with the team, stuffing rolled-up socks into the toes of his skates. Costello began referring to his remaining three toes as " The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost". The incident also attracted international media attention, including coverage in ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' magazine and on the television show ''

Real People Real People may refer to: * Human, a species ** People, or all humans as a whole * ''Real People'' (TV program), a 1970s television show that aired on NBC in the United States * ''Real People'' (album), a 1980 album by funk/disco group Chic ** " ...

''. As a result of the media coverage,

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...

offered the Fathers a movie option. He brought

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

to Hollywood to audition for the role of Costello, but the film fell apart when Gretzky's acting ability proved unable to carry a film. (However, it was on that trip that Gretzky first met his future wife,

Janet Jones Janet Marie Gretzky ( Jones; born January 10, 1961) is an American actress and dancer. She is married to Canadian ice hockey Hall of Fame player Wayne Gretzky. Early life and education Janet Marie Jones was born in Bridgeton, Missouri, the ...

.) For the 25th anniversary of Costello's ordination in 1982, friends and parishioners took up a collection to buy Costello a truck for use in his charity work. Instead, Costello sold the vehicle and used the money to buy furniture and food for needy families.

Death and legacy

At a Flying Fathers game in Kincardine in 2002, Costello had a puck get stuck in his skates, making him fall backward and hit his head on the ice. Still feeling unwell the following day, he was admitted to hospital, where he slipped into a coma and died a week later on December 10. As his parish was unable to accommodate the crowds expected for his funeral, the service was held in Timmins' McIntyre Arena. Thousands from all over the country were reputed to have been at the funeral. Timmins native

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...

stated tribute to Costello: Writer and politician

Charlie Angus Charles Joseph Angus (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian author, journalist, broadcaster, musician and politician. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Angus served as the federal Member of Parliament for the riding of Timmins—Jame ...

published a biography of Costello, ''Les Costello: Canada's Flying Father'', in 2005. A foundation to raise funds for food banks, homeless shelters, and other anti-poverty charities in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

was also launched in Costello's memory the same year. As well, a major street in the city's Schumacher neighbourhood was renamed Father Costello Drive. The hockey arena in the town of

Cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. ...

, Ontario is named for Father Costello. Costello was posthumously inducted into the Timmins Sports Heritage Hall of Fame in 2014, and a 36-inch bronze statue was erected there in his honour in April 2024.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

*
Flying Fathers

"Schumacher's saint: Fr. Les Costello"
by Charlie Angus in '' Catholic New Times''
Les Costello profile at the Catholic Educator's Resource Center

Picture of Les Costello's Name on the 1948 Stanley Cup Plaque
{{DEFAULTSORT:Costello, Les 1928 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests Canadian ice hockey left wingers Ice hockey people from Timmins Ice hockey players who died while playing Pittsburgh Hornets players Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto St. Michael's Majors players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen