Sigurdur Franklin Fredrickson (Sigurður Franklín Friðriksson; June 3, 1895 – May 28, 1979) was an Icelandic-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 h ...

player and aviator. As a player and coach, he was significant to both the amateur and professional ice hockey as it evolved in North America in the early 20th century. Fredrickson's career was interrupted by

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and prematurely ended by a knee injury in 1931. Fredrickson was the center for the Winnipeg Falcons, the Canadian team which won the Olympic gold medal in 1920. Fredrickson then joined the Victoria Aristocrats/Victoria Cougars and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 1925. On both occasions he was a teammate of fellow Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey star

Haldor Halderson Haldor Halderson (Halldór Halldórsson; January 7, 1898 – August 1, 1965) was an Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. Halderson was the right wing for the Winnipeg Falcons, the Canadian team which ...

, making them the first players to win an Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup. Fredrickson became one of the pioneers of flight in Iceland when he arrived there in 1920 to fly for the countries first airline, ''Flugfélag Íslands''. The Icelandic spelling of his last name is ''Friðriksson'' and the alternate English spelling ''Frederickson''.

Early life

Fredrickson was born in

Winnipeg, Manitoba 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 ...

as Sigurður Franklín Friðriksson, to Icelandic immigrants Jón Vídalín Friðriksson and Guðlaug S. Sigurðardóttir. He spoke Icelandic at home, and learned English when he started school.

Ice hockey career

Amateur career

Fredrickson attended Kelvin Technical Institute and Central Collegiate before enrolling at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.196th Battalion in February 1916 to join the

, but soon transferred to the 223rd Battalion, and by May 1917 was in Europe. He transferred once again to the Royal Flying Corps, and was sent to Egypt for training. While on his way back from Egypt the ship he was on, the '' SS Leasowe Castle'', was hit by a German torpedo and sank. Fredrickson was then posted to Scotland to serve as a trainer and test pilot, where he ended the war. Back in Winnipeg, Frederickson captained the

Winnipeg Falcons The Winnipeg Falcons were a senior men's amateur ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Winnipeg Falcons won the 1920 Allan Cup. That team went on to represent Canada in the 1920 Olympic games held in Antwerp, Belgium. There the Falco ...

, to the

1920 Allan Cup The 1920 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 curr ...

and then to the first gold medal offered in ice hockey at the 1920 Olympics at Antwerp. Following the Olympics he moved to Iceland to work for ''Flugfélag Íslands'', the first airliner in the country, in introducing airplanes to the local population. On 25 June 1920, he became the second man to pilot a plane in Iceland, after Cecil Faber. While in Iceland, he competed in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

and set a new national record in discus. In October, he moved back to Canada.

Professional career

Professionally, Fredrickson played for the

Victoria Cougars The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after the PCHA's merger with the Western Canada Hockey League) in the W ...

of the

Pacific Coast Hockey Association The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was cons ...

and the

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 in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Detroit Falcons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. He helped Victoria win the Stanley Cup in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

. During the 1926–27 season Frederickson's salary was reportedly $6,000, the highest in the NHL. On January 18, 1927, Fredrickson scored four goals in a single game for Boston in the Bruins' 7–3 victory over the New York Rangers. He became the second Bruin to achieve this feat. Teammate Harry Oliver had done it exactly one week before. On December 21, 1928, Fredrickson was traded from the Boston Bruins to the Pittsburgh Pirates for

Mickey MacKay Duncan McMillan "Mickey" MacKay (May 25, 1894 – May 30, 1940) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and rover who played primarily in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHL) and Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) for the Vancouver Mi ...

. When the Stanley Cup was redone during the

1957–58 NHL season The 1957–58 NHL season was the 41st season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup for the third consecutive season, defeating the Boston Bruins four games to two in the best-of-seven final series. League busi ...

his name was engraved, contrary to NHL rules, on the Cup with the 1929 Bruins. Fredrickson was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates the day Boston won the Cup. This made him ineligible to be on the cup with Boston. Fredrickson coached hockey and lacrosse after his retirement. He coached the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 1929–1930 season, when he also played 9 games, but the team went 5-36-3 and moved to Philadelphia the next season before folding. In 1933, Fredrickson was named coach of the

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

ice hockey team. While at Princeton he befriended

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

, who was working as a professor there; the two shared an interest in the violin. Fredrickson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958 and is also a member of the

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...

Playing style

Fredrickson was a natural centre forward, a left-hand shot, and with all the valuable traits of a franchise pivot man: skating, speed, stick-handling, size and a terrific shot. When Fredrickson made his long-awaited professional debut in the PCHA with the Victoria Aristocrats against the

Vancouver Millionaires The Vancouver Millionaires (later known as the Vancouver Maroons) were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926. Based in Vancouver, British C ...

on New Year's Day 1921 he was already 25 years old and an

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 ...

and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champion, and the anticipations among the home fans in Victoria were sky high, although there were also some doubters who wondered if he could star in the PCHA circuit. Fredrickson did not let anyone down, when he was finally let on by coach

Lester Patrick Curtis Lester Patrick (December 31, 1883 – June 1, 1960) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach associated with the Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (Western Hockey League after 1924), and ...

after 10 minutes of play, after he had shaken off his last nerves. During the last period of the game Fredrickson had one goal and two assists when Victoria turned the game around and won 5 goals to 3, with the local newspaper ''Victoria Daily Times'' hailing him as the new "

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

of hockey" and claiming that "he showed everything and lacked nothing."

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

*''All statistics taken from NHL.com''

Coaching record

Awards and achievements

championship (1920) *Olympic gold medalist (1920) * PCHA First All-Star Team ( 1921,

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

, and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

) *PCHA Scoring Champion (1923) *PCHA Goals Leader (1923) * Stanley Cup championships (

and

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

) * WCHL First All-Star Team (

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of Viet ...

) *Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958 *Selected to

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

's All-Century Second All-Star Team *Inducted into the

in 1981 *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 ...

Personal life

Fredrickson was married to Beatrice Stefánsdóttir who was also of Icelandic-Canadian descent.

References

Bibliography

Sigurdur Franklin "Frank" Fredrickson
a
Manitoba Historical Society
* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fredrickson, Frank 1895 births 1979 deaths Boston Bruins players Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian people of Icelandic descent Detroit Cougars players Detroit Falcons players Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Manitoba Ice hockey player-coaches Ice hockey players at the 1920 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic ice hockey players of Canada Olympic medalists in ice hockey Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL) coaches Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL) players Sportspeople from Winnipeg Stanley Cup champions Victoria Aristocrats players Victoria Cougars (1911–1926) players Winnipeg Falcons players