Alex Connell

Alex Connell
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1958
Date of birth	February 8, 1902
place of birth	Ottawa , Ontario , Canada
date of death	May 10, 1958
size	175 cm
Weight	68 kg
position	goalkeeper
Catch hand	Left
Career stations
1917-1919	Kingston Frontenacs
1919-1920	Ottawa Cliffsides
1920-1921	Ottawa St. Brigid's
1921-1922	Ottawa Gunners
1922-1924	Ottawa St. Brigid's
1924-1931	Ottawa Senators
1931-1932	Detroit Falcons
1932-1933	Ottawa Senators
1933-1934	New York Americans
1934-1937	Montreal Maroons

Alex Connell (born February 8, 1902 in Ottawa , Ontario , † May 10, 1958 ) was a Canadian ice hockey goalkeeper who played for the Ottawa Senators , Detroit Falcons , New York Americans and Montreal Maroons in the National Hockey League from 1924 to 1937 .

Career

Connell, who was known as "The Ottawa Fireman" during his time with the Ottawa Senators , was considered a sporty and played ice hockey , baseball , lacrosse and American football . Since he could not skate , he played from 1917 as a goalkeeper for the Kingston Frontenacs . Two years later Connell returned to his native city and joined the Ottawa Cliffsides for a year , with whom he was active in the Ottawa City Hockey League . He managed two shutouts in seven games for the Cliffsides . He spent the following four years with league rivals Ottawa St. Brigid's and Ottawa Gunners . After he finished five of twelve games without conceding in the 1923/24 season, Connell went to the Ottawa Senators in the National Hockey League the following year . In his first season for the Senators, the Canadian established himself as a regular goalkeeper and completed all 30 regular season games and posted seven shutouts. In the following season 1925/26 he increased his performance again significantly and ended in the regular season 15 of 26 NHL games without conceding, which was a record at the time.

The following year, in which he posted 13 shutouts, succeeded in the play-offs after victories over the Montréal Canadiens and Boston Bruins to win the Stanley Cup . Connell played a large part in the Senators' success as he conceded only four goals in six games and ended two games with a shutout. During the 1927/28 season , the goalkeeper set a previously unsurpassed record: from January 31 to February 18, he received no goal in six games in a row, increasing his record to 461: 29 minutes without a goal. While this record has not yet been broken, George Hainsworth exceeded his shutout record a year later and set a new record with 22 games of the season without conceding a goal. In 1931 Connell was selected in the Dispersal Draft by the Detroit Falcons , for which he completed 48 games. A year later he returned to the Ottawa Senators.

After he had meanwhile announced his retirement from active professional sport, Connell was temporarily loaned to the Americans in 1934 due to an injury to Roy Worters , then as a goalkeeper in the service of the New York Americans , for which he played a game. In October 1934, he left the Senators for good and was given to the Montreal Maroons . In the 1934/35 season he continued his previous achievements. In the play-offs they won against the Chicago Blackhawks , New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs . The final series ended with three wins in a row for the Maroons, which thereby won the second Stanley Cup in their club history.

At the end of the season, Connell resigned from active sport in order to complete another 27 games for the Montreal Maroons the following year and then finally to end his career. In 1958 he was honored with the induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame .

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Victory cut	Conceded goal	Shutouts
Regular season	12	417	0.463	1.91	81
Playoffs	6th	21st	0.381	1.19	4th

Sporting successes

• Stanley Cup : 1927 , 1935

Records

• 461: 29 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal in the regular season ( 1927/28 )

Web links

• Alex Connell in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)
• Alex Connell at hockeydb.com (English)