Robert John "Golden Boy" Goldham (May 12, 1922 – September 6, 1991) was a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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

and broadcaster. He played two seasons for the Toronto Marlboros earning the name "Golden Boy". He was later called the "Second Goalie" because his fearless skills blocking the puck.

Playing career

Goldham started his

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

career with 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. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

after playing for the Hershey Bears in the AHL. He would return to the AHL after the 1942 Stanley Cup win to play on the AHL 2nd All–Star Team. Goldham served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1942 through 1945. After the Second World War he returned to the Toronto Maple Leafs until 1947 when he was traded with four other Leafs to the Chicago Black Hawks for

Max Bentley Maxwell Herbert Lloyd Bentley (March 1, 1920 – January 18, 1984) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL) as part of a pr ...

and Cy Thomas. In 1950, Goldham was traded to the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

earning their Assistant Captain position in 1952 and would retire after the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

season. In 1955, he was a member of the NHL 2nd All-Star Team and won five

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () 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, and the International Ic ...

s in his career in

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

, and

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

with

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

, and

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

with

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. Goldham played in the following NHL All-Star Games: 1942, 2nd All Star Team AHL. NHL 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1954 and 2nd All Star Team 1955. Goldham coached the Toronto St. Michael's Majors during the 1959–60 season, then resigned and was succeeded by Father David Bauer.

Post-playing Career

After retiring, he worked for several years as a TV color commentator/studio analyst on ''

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' on

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

and on the local midweek Toronto Maple Leaf broadcasts on Hamilton's

CHCH-TV CHCH-DT (channel 11) is an independent television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Channel Zero (company), Channel Zero, the station maintains studios on Innovation Drive in the west end of Hamilton; prior to 2021, it was located ...

channel 11. Goldham was known as the First Little NHLer founded by Gordon Alcott in 1936, to make the NHL. He was married to Eleanor, and they had three daughters: Patricia, Susan and Barbara. He died from

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on September 6, 1991, at 69. In 2015, he was posthumously inducted into the

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Bob Goldham's obituary on The New York Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldham, Bob 1922 births 1991 deaths Canadian military personnel from Ontario Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Blackhawks players Detroit Red Wings players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Ontario National Hockey League broadcasters Sportspeople from Halton Hills Pittsburgh Hornets players Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs announcers Toronto Maple Leafs players Toronto Marlboros players Toronto St. Michael's Majors coaches Washington Lions players Royal Canadian Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century Canadian sportsmen