Gordon Elwood Tottle (October 14, 1925March 9, 1987) was an American 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 ...

player. As a

defenseman 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 ...

, he played 456 games in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

with the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were two separate minor professional ice hockey franchises, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The original Indians were founding members of the American Hockey Leagu ...

. In 18 seasons of professional hockey, he was a first-team all-star in both the American Hockey League, and the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart ...

, and played for the

United States men's national ice hockey team The United States men's national ice hockey team represents the United States in men's international ice hockey. The team is controlled by USA Hockey, the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United States. The U.S. team is currently ...

in the

1962 Ice Hockey World Championships The 1962 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 29th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The tournament was held in Colorado Springs and Denver, United States from 8 to 18 March 1962. This was the first World Championship hosted in No ...

Early life

Gordon Elwood Tottle was born in

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 ...

, Michigan, on October 14, 1925. He grew up in

Woodstock, Ontario Woodstock is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The city has a population of 46,705 according to the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 Canadian census. Woodstock is the seat of Oxford County, Ontario, Oxford County, at the head of the Thames River, On ...

, Canada.

Playing career

Tottle began his professional hockey career with the

Dallas Texans Dallas Texans may refer to: American football *Dallas Texans (NFL), 1952 team in the National Football League *Dallas Texans (AFL), 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs *Dallas Texans (arena football) The Dallas Texans were an ...

, and the

Fort Worth Rangers The Fort Worth Rangers were a minor professional ice hockey franchise based in Fort Worth, Texas. They played in the American Hockey Association (AHA) during the 1941–1942 season and in the United States Hockey League (USHL) from 1945–1946 ...

, in the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

. He signed with the

, and wore uniform #5 for ten seasons. During the three seasons which the Indians played as the

Syracuse Warriors Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

, he led the team with 187 penalty minutes. He was named a first-team all-star in the

1954–55 AHL season The 1954–55 AHL season was the 19th season of the American Hockey League. Six teams played 64 games each in the schedule. The "Carl Liscombe Trophy" for the league's top scorer is renamed to the John B. Sollenberger Trophy. The All-Star game ...

, scoring six goals, and 31 points, his highest totals in the

(AHL). After his ten seasons with the Indians/Warriors, he had played the eighth most games (433), in Springfield AHL history, and was inducted into Springfield Hockey Hall of Fame. Tottle then played one season in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

, followed by four seasons with Charlotte in the

. In his first two seasons with the Charlotte Clippers, he was named a first-team all-star in 1958–59, and 1959–60. In his third season in Charlotte, the team was renamed to the

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affiliate of the ...

, and Tottle was named its

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. He led the team to 25 wins in 64 games, but missed the playoffs. During his fourth season in Charlotte, Tottle played for the

in the

. He later returned to his home state of Michigan, to play a final season with the

Port Huron Flags The Port Huron Flags were a minor league professional ice hockey team located in Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in and seat of government of St. Clair County, Michigan, United States. The population was 28,983 at the 2020 census. ...

in the International Hockey League in 1962–63.

Personal life

Tottle was married to Ann, and had two daughters and a stepson. He was the owner and operator of Gordie's

Amoco Amoco ( ) is a brand of filling station, fuel stations operating in the United States and owned by British conglomerate BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and petroleum, oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company i ...

Harrisburg, North Carolina Harrisburg is a town in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States. It is a northeastern suburb of Charlotte. In the 2020 census, the population was 18,967. Geography Harrisburg is located in southwestern Cabarrus County. It is bordered to ...

. He was a member of the Oak Branch Masonic Lodge No. 261 in

Innerkip, Ontario East Zorra-Tavistock is a township in southwestern Ontario, Canada, formed on 1 January 1975 through the amalgamation of the Township of East Zorra and the Village of Tavistock. It is part of Oxford County. The township had a population of 7,12 ...

, a member of the

Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a List of Masonic rites, rite within the broader context of Freemasonry. It is the most widely practiced List of Masonic rites, Rite in the world. In some parts of the world, and in the ...

and the Carolina Consistory, and a member of the Commonwealth Baptist Church. He died from cancer on March 9, 1987, at his home in Harrisburg, and was interred in Sunset Memory Gardens.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs statistics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tottle, Gordon 1925 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American sportsmen American Freemasons American men's ice hockey defensemen Businesspeople from North Carolina Calgary Stampeders (WHL) players Charlotte Checkers (EHL) players Charlotte Clippers players Dallas Texans (USHL) players Deaths from cancer in North Carolina Eastern Hockey League coaches Fort Worth Rangers players Ice hockey coaches from Michigan Ice hockey people from Detroit Ice hockey player-coaches People from Harrisburg, North Carolina Port Huron Flags (IHL) players Seattle Totems (WHL) players Sportspeople from Woodstock, Ontario Springfield Indians players Syracuse Warriors players