Norman Boswell "Hec" Fowler (October 14, 1892 – July 30, 1987) was a two-sport athlete from Canada. He was a 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 ...

goaltender who played in the

Pacific Coast Hockey Association The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in Western Canada and the Western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was cons ...

and

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 ...

between 1916 and 1925. He was also a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

goalkeeper for Saskatoon Thistle. He was the last surviving former player of the Spokane Canaries.

Playing career

Fowler played for various senior league teams in his hometown of

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

from 1909 to 1916, appearing in 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 ...

playoffs in 1916, before turning professional with the Spokane Canaries of the PCHA in

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

. The Canaries, citing poor attendance, disbanded for the following season, and while Fowler had played poorly for Spokane, the defending

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 ...

champion

Seattle Metropolitans The Seattle Metropolitans were a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle, playing in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1915 to 1924. During their nine seasons, the Metropolitans were the PCHA's most successful franchise, a ...

was confident enough to sign him as their goaltender. With Fowler at the helm, the Mets won the league championship but were upset in the playoffs by the

Vancouver Millionaires The Vancouver Millionaires (later known as the Vancouver Maroons) were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926. Based in Vancouver, British Co ...

. At that point, Fowler enlisted in the military for the last year of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and when he mustered out of the service, signed with the Victoria Cougars for the 1920 season. Most spectacularly, he turned aside three penalty shots in a match against the Millionaires on December 12, 1921. He played five seasons in all for the Cougars before being sold to the expansion

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 ...

of the

in October 1924. Behind a weak defense, Fowler was repeatedly shelled, and it was reported that he was displeased with the team's direction. In his last game with Boston, he allowed nine goals in 49 minutes against the Toronto St. Patricks before leaving the ice on his own; he was replaced in net by left winger George Redding. Fowler admitted to a

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

reporter afterward that he was deliberately letting in goals, so that the Bruins would be embarrassed enough by the loss to obtain better players. As a result, he was suspended indefinitely by Boston, fined $200, and ultimately released. He signed with the Edmonton Eskimos of the

Western Canada Hockey League The Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921–22 WCHL season, 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926. ...

to finish the season, but took the next year off. Fowler played one more season in Edmonton in 1927, then three for the Oakland Sheiks of the professional California Hockey League between 1928 and 1931 – leading the team to consecutive championships his last two seasons – before retiring. On June 11, 1983, Norman "Hec" Fowler was installed into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in Regina Saskatchewan under Norman "Heck" Fowler.

Lacrosse

As with many other players of the era, Fowler was a lacrosse player in the summers, serving as secretary of the

Vancouver Lacrosse Club The Vancouver Lacrosse Club was a Canadian professional field lacrosse team in Vancouver, British Columbia during the 1910s and the 1920s. The team was managed by sports promoter Con Jones and played at the Callister Park, Con Jones Park (later re ...

and acting as an umpire, referee, and timekeeper in matches.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and achievements

* PCHA First All-Star Team in 1917. * PCHA Second All-Star Team in 1918. * Installed into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame June 11, 1983.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Hec 1892 births 1987 deaths Boston Bruins players Canadian expatriate ice hockey people in the United States Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Canadian military personnel of World War I Edmonton Eskimos (ice hockey) players Ice hockey people from Saskatoon Seattle Metropolitans players Spokane Canaries players Victoria Aristocrats players Victoria Cougars (1911–1926) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen https://sasksportshalloffame.com/inductees/norman-heck-fowle/