Paul Ivan Thompson (November 2, 1906 – September 13, 1991) 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 ...

winger who played 13 season 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 ...

(NHL). He was the younger brother of

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

goaltender Cecil "Tiny" Thompson.

Career

Thompson started his National Hockey League career with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

. He also played for the

Chicago Black Hawks Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and retired after the

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

season. He was a member of the season-ending

NHL All-Star team The National Hockey League All-Star teams were first named at the end of the 1930–31 NHL season, to honor the best performers over the season at each position. Representatives of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association vote for the all-st ...

twice as a player and twice as a coach. He was a three-time winner of the

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 ...

, winning it in 1928 with the Rangers, and in 1934 and 1938 with Black Hawks. Thompson faced his brother Tiny in the

1929 Stanley Cup Finals The 1929 Stanley Cup Finals was played by the defending champion New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins. This was the first time in Stanley Cup Finals history that two American-based teams met in the Finals. Boston won the series to win its fir ...

, marking the first time a set of brothers faced each other in a goaltender-forward combination in Stanley Cup Finals history. Paul's Rangers were swept by Tiny's

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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

. Tiny said of the matchup: "When I played goal for Boston against Paul (in) the final of 1929, he was just a rookie. It was really no contest." After retiring from playing, Thompson became a professional coach, notably coaching the Chicago Black Hawks between 1939 and 1945, and the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

of the

Pacific Coast Hockey League The Pacific Coast Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed in three incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952. PCHL 1928–1931 The fir ...

(PCHL), between 1945 and 1947.

Career statistics

Coaching record

References

External links

* * 1906 births 1991 deaths Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey left wingers Chicago Blackhawks coaches Chicago Blackhawks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Ice hockey player-coaches New York Rangers players Ice hockey people from Calgary Stanley Cup champions 20th-century Canadian sportsmen {{canada-icehockey-winger-1900s-stub