Elwin Ira Rollins (October 9, 1926 – July 27, 1996) was a professional

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

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 ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

who 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 ...

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 ...

and 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 ...

. Rollins was born in Kincaid, Saskatchewan, but grew up in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Re ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

Playing career

Before joining the

NHL 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 ...

, Rollins played with 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 ...

in the PCHL. Next year, Rollins at age 21, moved to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

to play for the Edmonton Flyers. Rollins believed the Flyers were a team capable of capturing the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the senior ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. It was most recently won by the Wentworth Gryphins ...

and he also believed if he played well enough he might get signed into the NHL. Rollins' gamble paid off and the Edmonton Flyers won the Allan Cup in 1947–48. He played 24 games that season, winning 20 and posting a 1.93 GAA. Rollins played in the minor leagues for a couple of years before he was signed by the

in 1950–51. Rumors had it that he was there to simply put pressure on Turk Broda to lose weight. This was not exactly true as the Leafs also needed to shore up their rapidly thinning goaltender depth chart. That season the Maple Leafs won 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 ...

. Rollins could not convince the Leafs management that he could be their full-time

. In 1951–52, he was traded to the

for veteran Harry Lumley. For five years he played for the Black Hawks, a team that usually finished last in the NHL which majorly contributed to his 141-205-83 record. But despite that, hockey pundits saw Rollins as one of the league's best goaltenders and in 1953–54 he played in the

NHL All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game () is an exhibition ice hockey tournament that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many of the League's star players playing against each other. The ga ...

and was awarded the Hart Trophy, even though he only won 12 games and lost 47 that season. Rollins is, as of 2020, one of three eligible players, along with Tommy Anderson and Jose Theodore, to win the Hart Memorial Trophy and not be elected to the

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 ...

. In 1957–58, the Chicago Black Hawks acquired Glenn Hall from the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. Rollins was sent to the minor leagues as the Black Hawks preferred Hall. He would stay in the minor leagues until 1959–60, when he was signed on by the

. He played 10 games with the club before he was sent back to the minor leagues again. This would mark the end of his NHL career. In 1966, although he was 37 years old, Rollins helped the

Drumheller Miners The Drumheller Miners were a senior ice hockey, senior ice hockey team based in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. History Two incarnations of the team existed. The first was a member of the Alberta Senior Hockey League (1965–78), Alberta Senior Hoc ...

to an Allan Cup victory in 1965–66.

Coaching career

After retiring, Rollins became a coach. He coached the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

hockey team as well as clubs in Spokane, Salt Lake City, Houston, Tulsa, and Phoenix. As a coach, he achieved a good measure of success, including an Allan Cup victory with the Spokane Jets in 1970. Rollins was named coach of the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

's (WHA) Phoenix Roadrunners in 1976, replacing local favourite Sandy Hucul. Rollins was generally hated in Phoenix after his years as coach of the WHL rival

Salt Lake Golden Eagles The Salt Lake Golden Eagles were a minor professional hockey team based in Salt Lake City from 1969 to 1994. History They played in the Western Hockey League from 1969 to 1974, the Central Hockey League from 1974 to 1984 and the International H ...

, and his tenure in Phoenix resulted in the demise of the Roadrunner franchise after only one season at the helm. Rollins' son Jerry played in the now-defunct WHA.

Awards and achievements

Vezina Trophy The Vezina Trophy ( ) is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the thirty-two List of NHL general managers, NHL general managers vote to dete ...

Winner (

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

) *

Championship (

) *

Hart Memorial Trophy The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, is an annual award for the most valuable player to his team in the National Hockey League (NHL), voted by the members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. The original tr ...

Winner (

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

) *Played in

All-Star Game (1954) *

Championships as a player (1948,

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

) *Allan Cup Championship as a coach (

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

)

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rollins, Al 1926 births 1996 deaths Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Calgary Stampeders (WHL) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Chicago Blackhawks players Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Hart Memorial Trophy winners Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan New York Rangers players New York Rovers players Ice hockey people from Moose Jaw Phoenix Roadrunners (WHA) Pittsburgh Hornets players Portland Buckaroos players Seattle Ironmen players Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players Vezina Trophy winners Winnipeg Warriors (minor pro) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen