Armand "Bep" Guidolin (December 9, 1925 – November 24, 2008) was a 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 coach. He is notable for being the youngest player in

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 ...

history. He was born in

Thorold Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Canal passes through the city, featuring lock 7 and the Twin Flight Locks. History The first s ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. He and Eleanor, his wife of 62 years, had four children. His family moved to

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 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...

. Guidolin stood 5'8" at 175 lbs, and was a left-shooting left winger in the NHL. He later went on to a coaching career. He was nicknamed "Bep" because his mother spoke Italian and very little English. Armand was the baby of the family and his mother pronounced baby as "beppy". The nickname stuck and was shortened to "Bep". He is the cousin of fellow NHL player and coach Aldo Guidolin.

Early life

Guidolin and his family moved to Timmins when he was young. It was there that he learned how to skate at the age of 13. His abilities excelled through practicing on local outdoor rinks. When the NHL lost many of their talented players to the second world war, Guidolin talents caught the eyes of pro scouts as being a viable replacement option.

Playing career

Guidolin played junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals of the OHA, playing in the

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

in 1942. Later that year he became the youngest player (16 years, 11 months) to play in an NHL game, on November 12, 1942. His quick rise to the NHL was a direct result of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. 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 ...

were in dire need of replacements to fill the roster holes created by so many players leaving for military service. In 1944, his eligibility for military service brought a one-year break from his NHL career. Guidolin also played for the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks. Armand was an ardent supporter for the formation of a players' union, which led to an early demise to his NHL career in 1952. He played for nine years in the minors, then retired to a coaching career.

Coaching career

Guidolin coached the

Belleville McFarlands The Belleville McFarlands were a Canadian senior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1956 to 1961. The McFarlands were based out of Belleville, Ontario, playing home games at the Belleville Memorial Arena. History Th ...

, winning the

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 ...

in 1958, and the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in 1959. In 1965 he became the coach of his former junior team the Oshawa Generals, featuring 17-year-old future Hockey Hall of Fame defenceman

Bobby Orr Robert Gordon Orr (born March 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest of all time. Orr used his ice skating speed, scoring, and play-making abilities to revolutionize the pos ...

. He led the Generals to the Memorial Cup final in 1966 versus the Edmonton Oil Kings. Guidolin later coached the London Knights of the OHL,

and the

Kansas City Scouts The Kansas City Scouts were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1974 to 1976. In 1976, the franchise relocated to Denver, and became the Colorado Rockies. In 1982, the Rockies relocated to New Jersey where ...

of the NHL, the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

of the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

, and the Boston Braves and

Philadelphia Firebirds The Philadelphia Firebirds were a minor league professional ice hockey team that played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1974 to 1979, and later the franchise moved to Syracuse, New York, and played one final season as the Syracuse Firebirds. ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

. It was a dream of Guidolin's to coach in the NHL, which became a reality when he got the opportunity to coach the Boston Bruins midway through the 1972–73 season, when he was bench boss for 26 games. He coached Boston again in 1973–74, leading the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals. Guidolin also coached the

for the 1974–75 and 1975–76 campaigns.Hockey Reference – Bep Guidolin Coaching Records
Retrieved July 20, 2021. (Legree, 2018). Guidolin also coached the Timmins Northstars of the Northland Intermediate Hockey League which went on to the Hardy Cup Finals for the All Canadians.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Coaching statistics

NHL

: - replaced mid-season : – mid-season replacement

WHA

WOJBHL

OHA

AHL

OHL

OHASr

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guidolin, Bep 1925 births 2008 deaths Boston Bruins coaches Boston Bruins players Brantford Alexanders coaches Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey left wingers Chicago Blackhawks players Detroit Red Wings players Edmonton Oilers coaches Ice hockey people from Ontario Canadian people of Italian descent Kansas City Scouts coaches London Knights coaches Oshawa Generals players Oshawa Generals coaches Ottawa Senators (QSHL) players People from Thorold World Hockey Association coaches