Robert Earl Davidson (February 10, 1912 – September 26, 1996) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

professional

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 ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played 12 seasons in the

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

for 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. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

Playing career

Davidson on occasion went by the nickname "Rugged Robert" by his teammates. He played his entire NHL career with the

. He played in the NHL from 1933–34 to 1945–46. He played on two

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) 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, an ...

winning teams. His first was in 1941–42 and his second in the 1944–45 season in which he was the Maple Leafs'

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Davidson served as captain of the Maple Leafs from 1943–44 to 1944–45. After his playing days were over he stayed on with the Maple Leafs in a number of different capacities. His most notable was as chief scout. Davidson is considered by many to be one of the best hockey scouts of all time and was credited with building the Toronto Maple Leafs teams during the 1960s which dominated the NHL by winning the Stanley Cup four times ( 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1966–67) within a six-year period. His name was engraved on the cup for 1962 and 1967, though was a member of all four cups wins by Toronto in the 1960s. In 1995 the board of directors of the Maple Leafs organization awarded Davidson with the

J. P. Bickell Memorial Award The J. P. Bickell Memorial Award is named after the late Toronto businessman and hockey executive J. P. Bickell. The award was created by the Maple Leaf Gardens board of directors to honor Mr. Bickell's involvement as owner, president, chairman an ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

External links

Picture of Bob Davidson's Name on the 1945 Stanley Cup Plaque
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Syl Apps Charles Joseph Sylvanus Apps, (January 18, 1915 – December 24, 1998), was a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1936 to 1948, an Olympic pole vaulter and a Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament i ...

, title = Toronto Maple Leafs captain , years =

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 ...

– 45 , after = Syl Apps {{s-end {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Bob 1912 births 1996 deaths Canadian ice hockey left wingers Ice hockey people from Toronto Pittsburgh Hornets coaches St. Louis Flyers coaches Stanley Cup champions Syracuse Stars (IHL) players Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto Maple Leafs scouts Toronto Marlboros players Canadian ice hockey coaches {{canada-icehockey-winger-1910s-stub

Playing career

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

See also

External links