Lawrence James McCormick (July 12, 1888 – December 30, 1961) was a Canadian-born American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...

player who became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

citizen of the United States on March 17, 1920, and competed in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

for the American ice hockey team, which won the silver medal. Larry was the older brother of Joseph McCormick, who served as the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the 1920 United States Olympic ice hockey team. While the McCormicks were both from

Buckingham, Quebec Buckingham is a former town located in the Outaouais region in the western portion of the province of Quebec, Canada. Since 1 January 2002, it has been part of the amalgamated city of Gatineau, which merged five former municipalities, including ...

, they had served in the U. S. Army in France during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Because the brothers each held an

honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

from the Army, they were entitled to automatic U.S. citizenship and on March 17, 1920, just five weeks before playing in the 1920 Summer Olympics, they both became naturalized Americans. Prior to the war, both of the brothers played in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

for the

Pittsburgh Athletic Association The Pittsburgh Athletic Association was a private social club and athletic club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Its clubhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard i ...

and the

Yellow Jackets Yellowjacket or yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory social wasps of the genera ''Vespula'' and '' Dolichovespula''. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries. Most of these ...

References

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* * * 1888 births 1961 deaths American men's ice hockey centers Anglophone Quebec people Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Quebec Ice hockey players at the 1920 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey Sportspeople from Outaouais Pittsburgh Athletic Association ice hockey players Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets (USAHA) players United States Army personnel of World War I {{US-Winter-Olympic-medalist-stub