Robert John Benson (May 18, 1894 – September 7, 1965) 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 hock ...

player. A

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

, he started his career with 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 ...

of the Manitoba Hockey League in 1913, remaining with them until 1920, though missed two seasons of play from 1917 to 1919 while serving in 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 fighti ...

. With the Falcons he played at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

and won the first gold medal in Olympic ice hockey. He later played in the

Western Canada Hockey League The Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926. The WCHL's Victoria C ...

from 1921 to 1926, as well as 8 games with the Boston Bruins of 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 ...

during the 1924–25 season. Benson continued playing in other minor leagues until retiring in 1931.

Playing career

Benson was born in

Davidson, Saskatchewan Davidson is a town in south central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located south-east of Saskatoon beside provincial highway 11 as well as Highway 44, in the rural municipality of Arm River. It is located approximately halfway between Saskatoo ...

, to Icelandic immigrants Benedikt Jóhannesson and Rósa Guðmundsdóttir. He was the younger brother of ice hockey player Connie Benson. During the 1920–21 season,

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction included ...

president H. J. Sterling hired a detective who discovered that Benson and teammate

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 ...

received C$6,500 to play amateur hockey. The

Amateur Athletic Union of Canada The history of Canadian sports falls into five stages of development: early recreational activities before 1840; the start of organized competition, 1840–1880; the emergence of national organizations, 1882–1914; the rapid growth of both amateur ...

voided Halderson's registration card and he was suspended from the

1921 Allan Cup The 1921 Allan Cup was the senior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) for the 1920–21 season. The CAHA had an agreement since 1918 which limited the location of the Allan Cup finals or semi-final games t ...

playoffs, although the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association allowed him and his Saskatoon team to continue in the league playoffs.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and achievements

* Allan Cup Championship (1920) *Olympic Gold Medalist (1920)

References

External links

* *
Falcons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Robert 1894 births 1965 deaths Boston Bruins players Calgary Tigers players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian people of Icelandic descent Edmonton Eskimos (ice hockey) players Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Ice hockey players at the 1920 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Minneapolis Millers (AHA) players Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic ice hockey players of Canada Olympic medalists in ice hockey Saskatoon Sheiks players Seattle Eskimos players Winnipeg Falcons players Winnipeg Maroons players