George Reginald "Red" Horner (May 28, 1909 – April 27, 2005) 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 ...

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 t ...

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 ...

of 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 ...

from 1928 to 1940. He was the Leafs captain from 1938 until his retirement. He helped the Leafs win their third

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 ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hir ...

. He was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame (french: Temple de la renommée du hockey) is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) rec ...

in 1965. Born in

Lynden, Ontario Lynden is part of Flamborough, which is itself part of the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Lynden now has fewer than 500 residents. There used to be a train station in Lynden that went to Hamilton and Lynden provided goods to that city. Curr ...

, Horner spent all of his time playing in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

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 ...

. As a junior player, he played for the

Toronto Marlboros The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

. In his NHL career, he had the role of enforcer and retired with 42 goals, 110 assists and 1,264

penalty minutes A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penaltie ...

in 490

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...

games. His election to the Hockey Hall of Fame has been considered rather controversial, as until his final two seasons was not considered the best defenseman on his own team, let alone in the NHL. His contemporaries for most of his career were the Hall of Famers King Clancy and Hap Day, who were the best defensemen on his team. It seems to rest more on his unprecedented and unequaled seven seasons as the NHL penalty minute leader. He retired as the league's all-time penalty minute leader, a mark he held until Ted Lindsay broke it in the late Fifties. After retiring from hockey in 1940, Horner lived in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, and Toronto, where he became involved in business ventures for several companies including the Elias Rogers Fuels Limited and the Canada Coal Company Limited, where he later became President before retiring. On February 13, 1999, he was involved in the opening and closing ceremonies of the final game at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

. He was also involved in the opening of the

Air Canada Centre Scotiabank Arena (French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Ra ...

. Horner was the last surviving member of Toronto's 1932 Stanley Cup team. Horner was the oldest living NHL player at the time of his death in

and was later interred in Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery in Toronto.

Career statistics

Bold indicates led league *

champion

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horner, Red 1909 births 2005 deaths Canadian ice hockey defencemen Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Ontario Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ontario Memorial Cup winners Stanley Cup champions Toronto Marlboros players Toronto Maple Leafs players

Career statistics

See also

References

External links