John Ross Roach (June 23, 1900 – July 9, 1973) was a Canadian 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 ...

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

who played 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 ...

between 1921 and 1935. His nicknames were "Little Napoleon", "The Housecleaner", and "The Port Perry Cucumber".

Playing career

Roach was born in

Port Perry Port Perry is a community located in Scugog, Ontario, Canada. The town is located northeast of central Toronto and north of Oshawa and Whitby. Port Perry has a population of 9,453 as of 2016. Port Perry serves as the administrative and commerc ...

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 Ca ...

. He won a

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 ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), 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 Éirean ...

. Roach was one of only six goalies in the NHL to

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 ...

his team when he was with the

Toronto St. Patricks The Toronto St. Patricks (colloquially known as the St. Pats) were a professional ice hockey team which began playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1919. The Toronto NHL franchise (league membership) had previously been held by the Arena ...

during the 1924–25 season. He was a First Team All-Star during the

1932–33 NHL season The 1932–33 NHL season was the 16th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nine teams each played 48 games. The New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs three games to one for the Stanley Cup. League business After sitting out for a ...

. Roach was known for his acrobatic style of goaltending. In the 2009 book ''100 Ranger Greats'', the authors ranked Roach at No. 64 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* * 1900 births 1973 deaths Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Detroit Olympics (IHL) players Detroit Red Wings players Ice hockey people from Ontario New York Rangers players National Hockey League goaltender captains People from Scugog Stanley Cup champions Syracuse Stars (IHL) players Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto St. Pats players {{Canada-icehockey-goaltender-stub