Al Suomi
Encyclopedia
Albert William Suomi is a former NHL
player, who played with the Chicago Black Hawks
for the 1936–37 NHL season. Although he did not aspire to play at a professional level, Suomi nevertheless spent his young life playing hockey and was eventually scouted while playing with friends. Suomi began his career playing for the Chicago Baby Ruth team in 1934, a marketing ploy started by the company that produced the candy of the same name. In 1936, he joined a minor league team in Detroit, Michigan
and, based on his experiences with the Chicago Baby Ruth team, was deemed too professional to be eligible for the 1936 United States Olympic ice hockey team.
Suomi's sole season with the National Hockey League came as a result of another marketing ploy, this time on the part of the Chicago Black Hawks. Having benched all of his Canadian players, the manager declared his intent to field a team composed entirely of American players. Suomi was selected from among a pool of novice players to join the team but, after five games, the gimmick was disbanded and replaced with professionals. Retiring from hockey in 1940, he took on a series of small jobs before opening his own hardware store in Chicago. As of 2007, Suomi was the last surviving member of the 1936–37 all-American Chicago Black Hawks team and, following the 2010 death of Louis Holmes
, the oldest living former NHL player.
on October 29, 1913. Although he never had any serious aspirations to play professional ice hockey
, he nevertheless began practicing at local rinks at an early age, focusing on his talents as a left winger
. As a teenager, he played at both the high school and college level. His brother, John Suomi, played minor league hockey in Virginia
. In 1934, during the Great Depression
, he and two of his friends were approached by scout
Jack Manley, who offered them a chance to play professional hockey in Chicago
. With only one hour to catch the bus to Minneapolis, Minnesota
, Suomi decided that he had nothing to lose and took his belongings in a cardboard box with him to the bus station.
. The team was designed as a marketing gimmick for the Curtis Candy Company, and played before all of the Chicago Black Hawk games in order to increase their attendance. While Suomi made the team, his two friends were rejected and they returned to Minnesota
. For the next season, from 1935–36, he was called to Michigan
and joined the Detroit Tool Shop of the Michigan-Ontario Hockey League. He was offered an opportunity to tried out for the 1936
Olympic ice hockey
team for the United States
, but his past association led him to be rejected for being too professional. He played 17 regular season games for the Detroit Tool Shop, scoring eight goals and five assists
for a total of 13 points. During the regular season, he had six penalty minutes
. In addition, he played in four playoff games, scoring one assist.
In 1936 Suomi, along with other MOHL players, took jobs in Denver, Colorado
. Unlike the others, however, he received an invitation to try out for the Chicago Black Hawks
, which he accepted even amongst threats of a lawsuit from his employer. In another marketing ploy, Black Hawk owner Frederick McLaughlin had benched all the Canadian
players on his team and declared his intentions to field a team that consisted entirely of individuals born in the United States. The 1936-1937 was Suomi's sole season with the National Hockey League
. He played five games with the Black Hawks, but scored no points, and, after four wins and one loss, Suomi and the other Americans were disbanded and replaced with the professionals.
According to some statistics, Suomi spent the remained of the 1936–37 season with the Michigan-Ontario Hockey League's Detroit Pontiacs. Over the span of 20 games, he scored only two points, but spent 14 minutes in the penalty box. In a 2002 interview, however, he denied having ever played for the team. His last season in hockey was with the Chicago Hornets of an Arena Hockey League.
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After the ArHL folded in 1940, Suomi began refereeing
, but soon gave it up. He then worked as welder and electrician and was not called to serve in World War II
. He later founded "Al's Hardware", eventually to be run by his children, in Countryside, Illinois
. As of 2007, he was the last surviving member of the team. Following the death of Louis Holmes
in March 2010, he became the oldest living former NHL player.
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
player, who played with the Chicago Black Hawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
for the 1936–37 NHL season. Although he did not aspire to play at a professional level, Suomi nevertheless spent his young life playing hockey and was eventually scouted while playing with friends. Suomi began his career playing for the Chicago Baby Ruth team in 1934, a marketing ploy started by the company that produced the candy of the same name. In 1936, he joined a minor league team in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
and, based on his experiences with the Chicago Baby Ruth team, was deemed too professional to be eligible for the 1936 United States Olympic ice hockey team.
Suomi's sole season with the National Hockey League came as a result of another marketing ploy, this time on the part of the Chicago Black Hawks. Having benched all of his Canadian players, the manager declared his intent to field a team composed entirely of American players. Suomi was selected from among a pool of novice players to join the team but, after five games, the gimmick was disbanded and replaced with professionals. Retiring from hockey in 1940, he took on a series of small jobs before opening his own hardware store in Chicago. As of 2007, Suomi was the last surviving member of the 1936–37 all-American Chicago Black Hawks team and, following the 2010 death of Louis Holmes
Louis Holmes
Louis Charles Carter "Lou" Holmes was a professional ice hockey centre who played 56 games in the National Hockey League with the Chicago Black Hawks from 1931 to 1933. He was born in Rushall, England. After his playing career, Holmes coached the gold medal winning Edmonton Mercurys at the 1952...
, the oldest living former NHL player.
Early life
Suomi was born to a working-class family in Eveleth, MinnesotaEveleth, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,865 people, 1,717 households, and 971 families residing in the city. The population density was 611.0 people per square mile . There were 1,965 housing units at an average density of 310.6 per square mile...
on October 29, 1913. Although he never had any serious aspirations to play professional ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, he nevertheless began practicing at local rinks at an early age, focusing on his talents as a left winger
Winger (ice hockey)
Winger, in the game of hockey, is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play on the ice is along the outer playing area. They typically work by flanking the centre forward. Originally the name was given to forward players who went up and down the sides of the rink...
. As a teenager, he played at both the high school and college level. His brother, John Suomi, played minor league hockey in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. In 1934, during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, he and two of his friends were approached by scout
Scout (sport)
In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...
Jack Manley, who offered them a chance to play professional hockey in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. With only one hour to catch the bus to Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, Suomi decided that he had nothing to lose and took his belongings in a cardboard box with him to the bus station.
Hockey career
For the 1934–35 season, Suomi was a member of the Chicago Baby Ruth team of the United States Amateur Hockey Association league, participating in two playoff games and scoring a total of two goalsGoal (ice hockey)
In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to...
. The team was designed as a marketing gimmick for the Curtis Candy Company, and played before all of the Chicago Black Hawk games in order to increase their attendance. While Suomi made the team, his two friends were rejected and they returned to Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. For the next season, from 1935–36, he was called to Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and joined the Detroit Tool Shop of the Michigan-Ontario Hockey League. He was offered an opportunity to tried out for the 1936
1936 Winter Olympics
The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin...
Olympic ice hockey
Ice hockey at the 1936 Winter Olympics
At the 1936 Winter Olympics, Great Britain won the men's ice hockey competition. While only one player on the team was born in Canada, nine of the thirteen players on the roster grew up in Canada, and eleven had played previously in Canada.-Medalists:...
team for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but his past association led him to be rejected for being too professional. He played 17 regular season games for the Detroit Tool Shop, scoring eight goals and five assists
Assist (ice hockey)
In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal...
for a total of 13 points. During the regular season, he had six penalty minutes
Penalty (ice hockey)
A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,...
. In addition, he played in four playoff games, scoring one assist.
In 1936 Suomi, along with other MOHL players, took jobs in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. Unlike the others, however, he received an invitation to try out for the Chicago Black Hawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
, which he accepted even amongst threats of a lawsuit from his employer. In another marketing ploy, Black Hawk owner Frederick McLaughlin had benched all the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
players on his team and declared his intentions to field a team that consisted entirely of individuals born in the United States. The 1936-1937 was Suomi's sole season with the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
. He played five games with the Black Hawks, but scored no points, and, after four wins and one loss, Suomi and the other Americans were disbanded and replaced with the professionals.
According to some statistics, Suomi spent the remained of the 1936–37 season with the Michigan-Ontario Hockey League's Detroit Pontiacs. Over the span of 20 games, he scored only two points, but spent 14 minutes in the penalty box. In a 2002 interview, however, he denied having ever played for the team. His last season in hockey was with the Chicago Hornets of an Arena Hockey League.
Later life
Official (ice hockey)
In ice hockey, an official is a person who has some responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game. There are two categories of officials, on-ice officials, who are the referees and linesmen that enforce the rules during game play, and off-ice officials, who have an...
, but soon gave it up. He then worked as welder and electrician and was not called to serve in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He later founded "Al's Hardware", eventually to be run by his children, in Countryside, Illinois
Countryside, Illinois
Countryside is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,991 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Countryside is located at ....
. As of 2007, he was the last surviving member of the team. Following the death of Louis Holmes
Louis Holmes
Louis Charles Carter "Lou" Holmes was a professional ice hockey centre who played 56 games in the National Hockey League with the Chicago Black Hawks from 1931 to 1933. He was born in Rushall, England. After his playing career, Holmes coached the gold medal winning Edmonton Mercurys at the 1952...
in March 2010, he became the oldest living former NHL player.