Edgar Louis "Beaver" Laprade (October 10, 1919 – April 28, 2014) 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 ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

who played for the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

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 ...

. The son of Thomas and Edith Laprade, he was born in the New Ontario community of Mine Centre. By age 4, he and his family moved to Port Arthur,

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 ...

. He also spent time with the

Port Arthur Bearcats The Port Arthur Bearcats (Bear Cats) were a senior amateur ice hockey team based in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada – now part of the city of Thunder Bay – from the early 1900s until 1970. Before settling on the nickname of Bear ...

of the Thunder Bay Senior Hockey League.

Playing career

Laprade started his hockey career with the local Port Arthur Bruins in the Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League. He was a prolific scorer with the team and he was frequently their best player. In 1938–39, Laprade joined the

in the Thunder Bay Senior Hockey League (TBSHL). Again, Laprade scored many times, and he was selected as the MVP of the TBSHL in 1938-39 and 1940–41. He also helped the team win the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the senior ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. It was most recently won by the Wentworth Gryphins ...

in 1939–40. After the 1942–43 season, Laprade joined the army. While in the army, he still played hockey regularly with the Winnipeg Army. In 1944–45, he played one season with the Barriefield Bears before moving on to the

with the

. In his first season of NHL hockey, Laprade recorded 34 points in 49 games. His effort impressed the league and he was awarded the

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving ...

. Laprade finished the 1946-47 NHL season with 40 points, and earned a spot in the first NHL All-Star Game. He also played in the

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

, and

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

NHL All-Star Games. During his career, Laprade played three full seasons without recording a penalty, and was awarded the

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, formerly known as the Lady Byng Trophy, is presented each year to the National Hockey League "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard ...

in 1949-50. In the same season, the Rangers made it all the way to the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...

against 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 ...

, the closest Laprade ever came to winning a

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 ...

. The series went all the way to a Game 7 before

Pete Babando Peter Joseph Babando (May 10, 1925 – February 19, 2020) was an American-born Canadian ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League with all four of the United States–based Original Six teams (Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Ch ...

of the Detroit Red Wings scored the game-winning goal in overtime. After that, Laprade played five more seasons with the Rangers before retiring. He was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () 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) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

in 1993.

Life after hockey

In 1939, he married Arline Whear, his coach's niece. The couple had three daughters. After retiring from hockey, Laprade went into a partnership with Guy Perciante in operating a sporting goods store, Perciante & Laprade Sporting Goods Limited, in

Thunder Bay, Ontario Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

for 30 years. Perciante and Laprade also owned and managed an arena in Port Arthur. He served as a member of Port Arthur and then Thunder Bay city council from 1959 to 1970 and again from 1972 to 1973. He also served on the board of governors for

Confederation College Confederation College is a provincially funded college of applied arts and technology in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1967, and has campuses in Dryden, Fort Frances, Greenstone, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake ...

and

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...

. Laprade died at home in Thunder Bay at the age of 94 on April 28, 2014.

Awards and achievements

*Selected as TBSHL MVP in 1939, and 1941. *

champion in 1939. *

winner in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

. *Played in

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 ...

, and

NHL All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game () is an exhibition ice hockey tournament that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many of the League's star players playing against each other. The ga ...

s. *

winner in

. *Inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1982. *Inducted into the

in 1993. * In the 2009 book ''100 Ranger Greats'', was ranked No. 24 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laprade, Edgar 1919 births 2014 deaths Calder Trophy winners Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian military personnel of World War II Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Thunder Bay Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners New York Rangers players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States People from Rainy River District Thunder Bay city councillors 20th-century Canadian sportsmen