Tobias Francis McCool (October 27, 1918 – May 20, 1973) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

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 ...

goaltender who played 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. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

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 ...

. He was born in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Playing career

McCool played minor hockey in his hometown of

with the Calgary Bronks of the Alberta Senior Hockey League. In 1937–38, McCool played in the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

with the Calgary Canadians. In 1939–40, he enrolled at

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

and played hockey there from 1940 to 1942. In 1942–43, McCool enrolled in the army. He played for one season for the Calgary Currie Army before being discharged as medically unfit to serve. After returning in 1944–45, he signed a free agent contract with the

. He was the top goaltender for the Leafs as he led them through the season and to the

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 Leafs beat 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 ...

in seven games and McCool set a franchise record for most shutouts in the postseason. He also set an

NHL 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 ...

record for most consecutive shutouts in the postseason with three, a record that has been tied but not beaten to this day. He also held another Stanley Cup record for the fewest goals allowed in the Final with nine. This stood until the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, when it was beaten by

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

netminder Tim Thomas, who only gave up eight. McCool also set another milestone as he became the first NHL goaltender to record an assist. At the end of the season, McCool was the recipient of 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 ...

. After just playing in 22 games in 1945–46, he retired after just two years because of severe

ulcer An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughin ...

s. After his retirement, he became an assistant publisher and general manager for the '' Calgary Albertan''. He suffered from ulcers during his career, and it was confirmed that ulcers played a part in his death on May 20, 1973.

Legacy

Frank McCool has an arena named after him in the southeast community of Lake Bonavista in the city where he was born,

Awards and achievements

winner in 1945. *

champion in 1945. *Shares

record for most consecutive

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

s in the postseason (3). *Hold

record for most shutouts in the postseason (4).

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

*
Picture of Frank McCool's Name on the 1945 Stanley Cup Plaque
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCool, Frank 1918 births 1973 deaths Calder Trophy winners Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Canadian military personnel of World War II Canadian sportspeople of Irish descent Deaths from ulcers Gonzaga Bulldogs men's ice hockey players Gonzaga University alumni Ice hockey people from Calgary Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen