King Clancy
Encyclopedia
Francis Michael "King" Clancy (February 25, 1903 – November 10, 1986) was a Canadian 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...

 player, referee, coach and executive. Clancy played 16 seasons in 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...

 (NHL) for the Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...

 and Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

. He was a member of three Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

 championship teams and won All-Star honours. After he retired in 1937, he remained in hockey, becoming a coach for the Montreal Maroons
Montreal Maroons
The Montreal Maroons was a professional men's ice hockey team in the National Hockey League . They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935...

. Clancy next worked as a referee for the NHL. He joined the Maple Leafs organization and worked in the organization as a coach and team executive until his death in 1986.

Clancy's nickname "King" originates from his father, who was the first 'King Clancy' and played football for Ottawa. 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. This nickname was eventually transferred to Frank.

Playing career

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 as among the league's top players and help the Senators to Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

 wins in 1923 and 1927. Although he was one of the smallest defencemen of his era, he was tough and fast and would not back down. According to Brian McFarlane
Brian McFarlane
Brian McFarlane is a Canadian television sportscaster and author. He is also the Honorary President of the Society for International Hockey Research. He is the son of the prolific writer Leslie McFarlane who wrote many of the early Hardy Boys books.-Early life and career:Brian McFarlane attended St...

, it was said that King Clancy started a thousand fights and never won one.

During a March 31, 1923, Stanley Cup game against the Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos (hockey)
The Edmonton Eskimos were a Canadian amateur and later professional men's ice hockey team that existed from 1905 to 1927. The Eskimos challenged three times for the Stanley Cup, losing each time; in 1908 versus the Montreal Wanderers, in 1910 versus the Ottawa Senators, and Ottawa again in 1923...

, Clancy became the first hockey player to play all six positions during one game. In the third period, goaltender Clint Benedict
Clint Benedict
Clinton Stevenson "Praying Bennie" Benedict was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Maroons. He played on four Stanley Cup-winning squads. He was the first goaltender in the National Hockey League to wear a face mask...

 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.

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
Conn Smythe
Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe MC was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League from 1927 to 1961 and as the builder of Maple Leaf Gardens...

 giving up $35,000 and two players for him. In his second season with the Leafs, Clancy helped his team win the Stanley Cup.

After a sluggish 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 136 career goals. In Clancy's last game, he represented the Montreal Maroons
Montreal Maroons
The Montreal Maroons was a professional men's ice hockey team in the National Hockey League . They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935...

 at the Howie Morenz Memorial Game
Howie Morenz Memorial Game
The Howie Morenz Memorial Game was a benefit held by the National Hockey League to raise money to support the family of Montreal Canadiens player Howie Morenz, who died shortly after suffering a broken leg during a regular league game...

 in 1937.

Post-playing career

The season after his retirement as a player, Clancy briefly coached the Montreal Maroons
Montreal Maroons
The Montreal Maroons was a professional men's ice hockey team in the National Hockey League . They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935...

 before beginning an 11-year stint as an NHL referee
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...

. In 1949, the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

 hired Clancy to coach their American Hockey League
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...

 farm team, the Cincinnati Mohawks
Cincinnati Mohawks
The Cincinnati Mohawks were a professional ice hockey team in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were a member of the American Hockey League between 1949 and 1952. They were originally founded as the Washington Lions, then were relocated from Washington, D.C....

. He was released after two losing seasons, and rejoined the Maple Leaf family as coach of the Leafs' AHL affiliate, the Pittsburgh Hornets. The Hornets had two outstanding seasons under Clancy, winning the Calder Cup
Calder Cup
The Calder Cup is awarded annually to the playoff champion of the American Hockey League. The trophy is the world's second oldest continuous professional ice hockey championship, having first been awarded in 1937 following the 1936-37 AHL season, and continuously being awarded every year.The cup...

 as league champions in 1951–52
1951–52 AHL season
The 1951–52 AHL season was the 16th season of the American Hockey League. Nine teams played 68 games each in the schedule. The Pittsburgh Hornets won their first F. G...

, and nearly repeating the following year, before losing the cup final in seven games.

On the strength of that performance, Clancy was made coach of the Maple Leafs for the 1953–54 season. He held the job for three years, but the team struggled, with each season worse than the one before it. He was then given the title assistant general manager by his friend, Conn Smythe, but his responsibilities often involved public relations at least as much as building a hockey team. Clancy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

 in 1958.

He remained assistant general manager-coach through the 1960s, working under Punch Imlach
Punch Imlach
George "Punch" Imlach , was an NHL coach and general manager. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.-Early career:...

. When Imlach was fired in 1969, Clancy initially said that he'd leave with him, but he was persuaded to stay with the Leafs and was made vice-president (a decision that did not go over well with Imlach, although the two later reconciled).

After Harold Ballard
Harold Ballard
Harold E. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League as well as their home arena, Maple Leaf Gardens. A member of the Leafs organization from 1940 and a senior executive from 1957, he became part-owner of the team in 1961 and was majority owner from February...

 took control of the Leafs during the 1971–72 season, Clancy and Ballard became inseparable friends. Former Leafs player, coach, and assistant general manager Hap Day
Hap Day
Clarence Henry "Happy" Day , later known as Hap Day, was a Canadian professional hockey player who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Americans...

 would say that Clancy was paid to do nothing by both Smythe and Ballard.

During the 1971–72 season, Clancy stepped behind the Leafs' bench as acting coach for 15 games while head coach John McLellan
John McLellan
Daniel John McLellan was a Canadian professional hockey player and coach in the National Hockey League. He was a member of teams that won the Memorial Cup, the Allan Cup and the world championships....

 recovered from a peptic ulcer
Peptic ulcer
A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. It is defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm...

.

He was the last surviving member of the 1922–23 Stanley Cup championship team (Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...

).

Clancy remained in the Leafs' front office for the rest of his life. In 1986, he had an operation to remove his gallbladder
Gallbladder
In vertebrates the gallbladder is a small organ that aids mainly in fat digestion and concentrates bile produced by the liver. In humans the loss of the gallbladder is usually easily tolerated....

. Infection from the gallbladder seeped into his body during the operation, and he went into septic shock
Septic shock
Septic shock is a medical emergency caused by decreased tissue perfusion and oxygen delivery as a result of severe infection and sepsis, though the microbe may be systemic or localized to a particular site. It can cause multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and death...

. He died November 10, 1986, at age 83 and is buried in Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery in Ontario.

Awards and honours

  • Named to NHL First All-Star Team in 1931 and 1934.
  • Named to NHL Second All-Star Team in 1932 and 1933.
  • Stanley Cup
    Stanley Cup
    The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

     champion (as a player) – 1923
    1923 Stanley Cup Finals
    -References:* Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame . Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7-See also:* 1922–23 NHL season* 1922–23 Ottawa Senators season* 1922–23 PCHA season* List of Stanley Cup champions...

    , 1927
    1927 Stanley Cup Finals
    The first game ended in a scoreless draw after after two ten-minute overtime periods. In the overtime, the condition of the ice became unplayable and NHL President Frank Calder called the game. There were two disallowed goals, one by each team, and both disallowed by off-sides.Before the next game,...

     (with Ottawa), 1932
    1932 Stanley Cup Finals
    The 1932 Stanley Cup Finals was a best-of-five series between the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto would win the series in three straight to win their first Stanley Cup.-Paths to the Final:...

     (with Toronto)
  • Stanley Cup champion (as an assistant manager-coach) 1962
    1962 Stanley Cup Finals
    The 1962 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the defending champion Chicago Black Hawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs who had last appeared in the Final in 1960...

    , 1964
    1964 Stanley Cup Finals
    The 1964 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the defending champion Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings for the second straight year. The Maple Leafs would win the best-of-seven series four games to three to win the Stanley Cup, their third-straight championship...

    , 1967
    1967 Stanley Cup Finals
    The 1967 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven series played between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs would win the series four games to two to win their thirteenth Stanley Cup...

     (with Toronto)
  • Calder Cup
    Calder Cup
    The Calder Cup is awarded annually to the playoff champion of the American Hockey League. The trophy is the world's second oldest continuous professional ice hockey championship, having first been awarded in 1937 following the 1936-37 AHL season, and continuously being awarded every year.The cup...

     (AHL
    American Hockey League
    The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...

     Champions) (as a coach) – 1952
    1951–52 AHL season
    The 1951–52 AHL season was the 16th season of the American Hockey League. Nine teams played 68 games each in the schedule. The Pittsburgh Hornets won their first F. G...

     (Pittsburgh Hornets)
  • Inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame
    Hockey Hall of Fame
    The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

     – 1958
  • Inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
    Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
    Canada's Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established in 1955 to "preserve the record of Canadian sports achievements and to promote a greater awareness of Canada's heritage of sport." It is located at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta...

     – 1975
  • In 1998, he was ranked number 52 on The Hockey News
    The Hockey News
    The Hockey News, commonly abbreviated to THN, is a North American ice hockey magazine published by Transcontinental. The Hockey News was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Bill Côté, and has since been the most recognized hockey publication in North America...

     list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.


The King Clancy Memorial Trophy
King Clancy Memorial Trophy
The King Clancy Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community. Since the award was established in 1988, no player has won it more than...

 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
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...

 in the episode of Old King Clancy
Old King Clancy
"Old King Clancy" is the 18th episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 82nd overall. It originally aired on March 23, 2009.- Plot :...

.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season
Season (sports)
In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an...

Team League GP G
Goal (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...

A
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...

Pts
Point (ice hockey)
Point in ice hockey has three official meanings:* A point is awarded to a player for each goal scored or assist earned. The total number of goals plus assists equals total points. In some European leagues, a goal counts as two points, and an assist counts as one...

PIM
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,...

GP G A Pts PIM
1921–22 Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...

NHL
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...

24 4 6 10 21 2 0 0 0 2
1922–23 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 3 2 5 20 2 0 0 0 2
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
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

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 92

Coaching record

Team |Regular season MTLM
Montreal Maroons
The Montreal Maroons was a professional men's ice hockey team in the National Hockey League . They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935...

1937–38
1937–38 NHL season
-European tour:After the Stanley Cup final finished, the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens played a nine-game exhibition series in Europe, becoming the first NHL teams to play outside North America. Six games were played in England, three in France...

18 6 11 1 (30) 4th in Canadian (fired)
TOR
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

1953–54 70 32 24 14 78 3rd in NHL Lost in first round
TOR 1954–55 70 24 24 22 70 3rd in NHL Lost in first round
TOR 1955–56 70 24 33 13 61 4th in NHL Lost in first round

Personal

His son, Terry Clancy
Terry Clancy
Terrance John Clancy is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 93 games in the National Hockey League. He played with the California Golden Seals and the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as with an independent professional hockey team, the London Lions, during the 1973–74 season...

 participated in ice hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics and later played for the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

. His great granddaugther, Laura Stacey won the silver medal at the 2011 IIHF Under 18 women’s hockey championships and was a member of the Canadian National Under 18 team that participated in a three game series vs. the USA in August 2011.

External links

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