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King Clancy

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For his father, who was also known as "King Clancy", see Tom Clancy (Canadian football).

King Clancy
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1958
Clancy with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1930s
Born (1902-02-25)February 25, 1902
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Died November 8, 1986(1986-11-08) (aged 84)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight 155 lb (70 kg; 11 st 1 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 1921–1937
Tom "King" Clancy, father of Frank and the original "King Clancy", was a famous rugby football player around the turn of the twentieth century with Ottawa College and the Ottawa Rough Riders.

Francis Michael "King" Clancy (February 25, 1902 – November 8, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, referee, coach and executive. Clancy played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a member of three Stanley Cup championship teams and won All-Star honours. After he retired in 1937, he remained in hockey, becoming a coach for the Montreal Maroons. Clancy next worked for 11 seasons as a referee in the NHL.

He joined the Toronto Maple Leafs organization and worked as a coach and team executive from that point until his death in 1986.

In 2017 Clancy was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.[1]

Clancy's nickname "King" originates from his father Tom, who was the first 'King Clancy' and played football with the Ottawa Rough Riders. At the time the football was not snapped as is done today, but was 'heeled' back from the line. Frank's father was very good at this and was named 'King of the Heelers' or 'King' for short.[2] This nickname was eventually transferred to Frank.

Playing career

Ottawa Senators

Clancy played for junior teams in the Ottawa area and began his NHL career in his hometown playing for the Senators, where he would establish himself among the league's top players helping the Senators to Stanley Cup wins in 1923 and 1927. Although he was one of the smallest defensemen of his era, he was tough and fast and would not back down. According to hockey broadcaster and historian Brian McFarlane, it was said that King Clancy started a thousand fights and never won one.[3]

During a March 31, 1923, Stanley Cup game against the Edmonton Eskimos, Clancy became the first hockey player to play all six positions during one game. In the third period, goaltender Clint Benedict was given a two-minute penalty. At the time, goalies served their own penalties. Not wanting to leave the net open, Clancy played goal for the two minutes Benedict was gone.[4]

Toronto Maple Leafs

On October 11, 1930, coming off the most productive season of his career, with 17 goals and 40 points in 44 games with the Senators, Clancy was traded to the Maple Leafs, with Toronto manager Conn Smythe giving up $35,000 and two players in exchange for him. In his second season with the Leafs, Clancy helped his team win the Stanley Cup.

After a slow start to the 1936–37 season, Clancy announced his retirement six games into the season. He retired as the top scoring defenceman in NHL history, with 283 career points.[5] In Clancy's last game, he represented the Montreal Maroons at the Howie Morenz Memorial Game in 1937.

Post-playing career

The season after his retirement as a player, Clancy briefly coached the Montreal Maroons before beginning an 11-year stint as an NHL referee.

In 1949, the Montreal Canadiens hired Clancy to coach their American Hockey League (AHL) farm team, the Cincinnati Mohawks. He was released after two losing seasons, and rejoined the Maple Leafs organization as coach of the Leafs' AHL affiliate, the Pittsburgh Hornets. The Hornets had two outstanding seasons under Clancy, winning the Calder Cup as league champions in 1951–52, and nearly repeating the following year, before losing the cup final in seven games.

On the strength of that performance, Clancy was made head coach of the Maple Leafs for the 1953–54 season. He held the job for three years, however the team struggled, with each successive season worse than the one before it. He was then appointed assistant general manager by his friend, Conn Smythe, although his responsibilities often involved public relations at least as much as building a hockey team.

Clancy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.

He remained assistant general manager-coach through the 1960s, working under Punch Imlach. When Imlach was fired in 1969, Clancy initially said he would leave with him, but was persuaded to stay with the Leafs and was made a vice-president, a decision which did not go over well with Imlach, although the two later reconciled.

After Harold Ballard took control of the Leafs during the 1971–72 season, Clancy and Ballard became inseparable friends. Former Leafs player, coach, and assistant general manager Clarence Hap Day stated Clancy was paid to do nothing by both Smythe and Ballard.[6] During the 1971–72 season, Clancy stepped behind the Leafs' bench as acting coach for 15 games while head coach John McLellan recovered from a peptic ulcer. Clancy remained in the Leafs' front office for the rest of his life.

In 1986, he had an operation to remove his gallbladder, however infection from the gallbladder seeped into his body during the operation at which he went into septic shock.[7][8][9] He died November 10, 1986, at age 84 and was interred in Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario.

Clancy was associated with professional hockey for 65 years at the time of his death, then the longest-such tenure in NHL history, and a record since surpassed by John Bucyk. He was the last surviving member of the 1922–23 Stanley Cup championship-winning Ottawa Senators.

Awards and honours

The King Clancy Memorial Trophy was named in his honour and is awarded annually to the NHL player who demonstrates leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made exceptional humanitarian contributions in the community.

In popular culture he is referred to in the TV series How I Met Your Mother in the episode "Old King Clancy".

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1916–17 Ottawa Sandy Hill OCJHL 4 3 0 3 — — — — — —
1916–17 St-Joseph's High-ON — — — — — 2 3 0 3 —
1917–18 Ottawa Munitions OCJHL 4 2 0 2 — — — — — —
1917–18 Ottawa Collegiate High-ON — — — — — 2 3 0 3 —
1918–19 Ottawa St. Brigid's OCHL 8 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 0 6
1919–20 Ottawa St. Brigid's OCHL 8 1 0 1 — — — — — —
1920–21 Ottawa St. Brigid's OCHL 11 6 0 6 — 6 5 1 6 12
1921–22 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 4 6 10 21 2 0 0 0 2
1922–23 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 3 2 5 20 2 0 0 0 0
1922–23 Ottawa Senators St-Cup — — — — — 6 1 0 1 4
1923–24 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 8 8 16 26 2 0 0 0 6
1924–25 Ottawa Senators NHL 29 14 7 21 61 — — — — —
1925–26 Ottawa Senators NHL 35 8 4 12 80 2 1 0 1 8
1926–27 Ottawa Senators NHL 43 9 10 19 78 6 1 1 2 14
1927–28 Ottawa Senators NHL 39 8 7 15 73 2 0 0 0 6
1928–29 Ottawa Senators NHL 44 13 2 15 89 — — — — —
1929–30 Ottawa Senators NHL 44 17 23 40 83 2 0 1 1 2
1930–31 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 44 7 14 21 63 2 1 0 1 0
1931–32 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 48 10 9 19 61 7 2 1 3 14
1932–33 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 48 13 12 25 79 9 0 3 3 14
1933–34 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 46 11 17 28 62 3 0 0 0 8
1934–35 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 47 5 16 21 53 7 1 0 1 8
1935–36 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 47 5 10 15 61 9 2 2 4 10
1936–37 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 6 1 0 1 4 — — — — —
NHL totals 592 136 147 283 914 55 8 8 16 88

Coaching record

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Finish Result
MTM 1937–38 18 6 11 1 (30) 4th in Canadian (fired)
TOR 1953–54 70 32 24 14 78 3rd in NHL Lost in semi-finals (1-4 vs. DET)
TOR 1954–55 70 24 24 22 70 3rd in NHL Lost in semi-finals (0-4 vs. DET)
TOR 1955–56 70 24 33 13 61 4th in NHL Lost in semi-finals (1-4 vs. DET)
MTM Totals 18 6 11 1 13 0-0 (0.00)
TOR Totals 210 80 81 49 209 2-12 (0.143)
Total 228 86 92 50 222 2-12 (0.143)

Personal

Clancy was of Irish descent.[12] His son, Terry Clancy, participated in ice hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics and later played for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

His great-granddaughter, Laura Stacey is a Canadian ice hockey player for PWHL Montreal, and a member of the Canadian women's national ice hockey team. She won a silver medal with Team Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics and gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She won gold at the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship and 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship. She won silver at the IIHF Women's World Championship in 2017 and 2023, and bronze in 2019. She is engaged to Team Canada teammate Marie-Philip Poulin.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "100 Greatest NHL Players". NHL.com. January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  2. ^ McFarlane, p. 20.
  3. ^ McFarlane, p. 12.
  4. ^ Conner, p. 162.
  5. ^ "Hockey | Player Season Finder". Stathead.com.
  6. ^ Ballard: A Portrait of Canada's Most Controversial Sports Figure," William Houston, Summerhill Press, 1984, p. 86.
  7. ^ "Francis Michael 'King' Clancy, one of Canada's most beloved... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  8. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (November 11, 1986). "King Clancy, 83, a Hockey Hall of Famer and Toronto Maple Leafs Executive, Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  9. ^ "King Clancy Is Dead at 83; N.H.L. Hall of Fame Member". New York Times. November 12, 1986. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  10. ^ "King Clancy". oshof.ca. Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  11. ^ Stubbs, Dave (October 16, 2016). "Maple Leafs retire 11 jersey numbers at ceremony". NHL.com. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  12. ^ 🖉Hornby, Lance. "Irish eyes smile on Maple Leafs | SaltWire". www.saltwire.com.
  13. ^ Cowan, Stu (May 26, 2023). "Marie-Philip Poulin announces her engagement to Team Canada teammate". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved May 26, 2023.

Sources

Preceded by Head coach of the Montreal Maroons
1937–38 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs
1953–56 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Ottawa Senators captain
(original era)
1928–30 		Succeeded by
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