Francis Joseph "Frank, Duke" McCurry (June 13, 1900 – November 8, 1965) was a Canadian professional

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 ...

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

who played 145 games in the

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 ...

, with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

between 1925 and 1929.

Playing career

Born in

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 ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, McCurry played his

junior hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from t ...

with the Toronto Canoe Club Paddlers in 1919-20 and led them to the

1920 Memorial Cup The 1920 Memorial Cup final was the second junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Toronto Canoe Club Paddlers of the Ontario Hockey League, Ontario Hockey Assoc ...

win with 21 goals and 32 points in 12 games. He also played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

from 1922 to 1923, as well as captaining several baseball teams. McCurry was also a member of the all-star Canadian lacrosse team from 1920 to 1922, and was the welter-weight

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

champion of Canada in 1916. From 1923 to 1925 he played in Pittsburgh with the USAHA's

Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets was the name of three separate ice hockey teams based at Duquesne Garden in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The original team was part of the United States Amateur Hockey Association (USAHA) from 1920 to 1925 and developed from ...

. In September 1925, McCurry was signed as a free agent when the Yellow Jackets became the

Pittsburgh Pirates, scoring 17 points in 36 games. McCurry remained with the Pirates for another three years but gradually lost his scoring touch, and in September 1929, the Pirates dealt him to the

Montreal Maroons The Montreal Maroons (officially the Montreal Professional Hockey Club) were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They played in the NHL from 1924–25 NHL season, 1924 to 1937–38 NHL season, 1938, winning the Sta ...

for cash. However, McCurry refused to report to Montreal and he sat out the entire season. Although it was evident the Pirates did not want him, he liked the city of Pittsburgh and signed a one-year pact with the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets, now playing in the IHL. He retired from hockey after the 1930-31 season.

Post-playing career

After his athletic career, he retired to become a doctor. McCurry moved to

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, and took up

dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...

, before returning to Toronto, in the 1930s. McCurry died in 1965 at the St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Ontario.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

External links

* * 1900 births 1965 deaths Canadian ice hockey left wingers Ice hockey people from Ontario People from Old Toronto Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets (IHL) players Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets (USAHA) players Players of Canadian football from Ontario {{canada-icehockey-winger-1900s-stub