Gus Bodnar

Gus Bodnar
Red Dutton (left) presents the Calder Memorial Trophy to Gus Bodnar (center)
Date of birth	April 24, 1923
place of birth	Fort William , Ontario , Canada
date of death	July 1, 2005
Place of death	Oshawa , Ontario , Canada
size	178 cm
Weight	73 kg
position	center
Shot hand	Right
Career stations
1940-1943	Fort William Rangers
1943-1947	Toronto Maple Leafs
1947-1954	Chicago Black Hawks
1954-1955	Boston Bruins

August "Gus" Bodnar (born April 24, 1923 in Fort William , Ontario , † July 1, 2005 in Oshawa , Ontario) was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach . In his active time he played from 1943 to 1955 for the Toronto Maple Leafs , Chicago Black Hawks and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League .

Career

Gus Bodnar first played ice hockey in his hometown with the Fort William Rangers, before he was active from 1943 with the Toronto Maple Leafs , for which he made his debut in the National Hockey League in the 1943/44 season . In his first NHL game on October 30, 1943, he scored his first goal after 15 seconds when striker Ken McAuley , the New York Rangers goalkeeper , overcame. As a result, he set the record for the fastest goal score by a rookie . Bodnar finished his debut season with 22 goals, 40 assists and 62 points. At the time, this meant a record for a newcomer. Following that season, the attacker was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the best rookie after beating Bill Durnan of the Montreal Canadiens in the election . However, he did not manage to match his high level from his debut season and the Canadian always scored less than 50 points per season. In Toronto he usually played in a row with Bud Poile and Gaye Stewart .

With the Maple Leafs, for which he was active for a total of four years, Bodnar won the Stanley Cup in 1945 and 1947 respectively . In November 1947 Bodnar was released from the Toronto to the Chicago Black Hawks , with which the Canadian was under contract for the following seven seasons. A highlight of his engagement in Chicago was the encounter on March 23, 1952 against the New York Rangers, when Bodnar posted three assists within 21 seconds and with these helped his teammate Bill Mosienko to a hat trick . During the 1953/54 season he was transferred to the Boston Bruins , where he ended his active career in 1955.

After retiring from his career, Bodnar first coached the Brampton Regents from the MJBHL junior league in the 1956/57 season, before he was also head coach for the St. Catharines Teepees in 1960/61 and the Toronto Marlboros from the Ontario Hockey Association in 1965/66 . After an engagement with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles from the Western Hockey League in the 1970/71 game year, Bodnar moved back to the OHA, where he looked after the Oshawa Generals from 1971 to 1976 .

Achievements and Awards

• 1944 Calder Memorial Trophy
• 1945 Stanley Cup win with the Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1947 Stanley Cup win with the Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1951 Participation in the NHL All-Star Game
• 1972 Matt Leyden Trophy

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	12	667	142	254	396	207
Playoffs	6th	32	4th	3	7th	10

literature

• Stan Fischler, Shirley Fischler: Who's Who in Hockey. Andrews McMeel Publishing, Kansas City, United States 2003, ISBN 0740719041 .

Web links

• Gus Bodnar at hockeydb.com (English)
• Gus Bodnar at legendsofhockey.net (English)