Len Thornson (February 4, 1933 – December 12, 2021) was a Canadian

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 ...

. Born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada, Thornson spent his entire professional hockey career in the International Hockey League, mostly with the

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team, which currently plays in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In all of North American professional hockey, only the Orig ...

. He also spent part of one season (1956–57) with the Indianapolis Chiefs and the Huntington Hornets. He is the IHL's all-time leading scorer with 1,252 career points. Thornson died December 12, 2021, at the age of 88.

Awards and achievements

MJHL The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior ice hockey, Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirt ...

Second All-Star Team (1953) *

Goal Scoring Leader (1953) *Turnbull Cup

Championship (1953) * IHL MVP (1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1967, & 1968) * IHL Scoring Champion (1962, 1964, & 1967) *

Turner Cup The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League from 1945 to 2001 and the renamed United Hockey League from 2007 to 2010. The Cup was named for Joe Turner, a goaltender from Windsor, Ontario. Turner became professi ...

( IHL) Championships (1963 & 1965) *"Honoured Member" of the

Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum for ice hockey in Manitoba, located on the main level of the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1985, when the first honoured members were named ...

* Jersey #11 retired by Fort Wayne Komets.

References

External links

*
Len Thornson's biography
a

1933 births 2021 deaths Buffalo Bisons (AHL) players Canadian ice hockey centres Fort Wayne Komets players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Huntington Hornets players Indianapolis Chiefs players New Westminster Royals (WHL) players St. Boniface Canadiens players Winnipeg Canadians players Winnipeg Warriors (minor pro) players Ice hockey people from Winnipeg 20th-century Canadian sportsmen {{Canada-icehockey-centre-1930s-stub