John Benedict "Peanuts" O'Flaherty (April 10, 1918 – July 16, 2008) was a 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...

 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 who played 21 games 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...

 with the New York Americans

New York Americans

The New York Americans were a professional ice hockey team based in New York, New York from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League and the second to play in the United States. The team never won the Stanley Cup, but reached the semifinals...

. He was born in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

.

Playing career

Peanuts received his nickname when a Toronto sports writer spotted him selling peanuts at Maple Leaf Gardens

Maple Leaf Gardens

Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...

 in 1933. In 21 career NHL games O'Flaherty recorded 5 goals and an assist for 6 points. Yet, he was best known as a star forward for the 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...

's Pittsburgh Hornets in the 1940s. His son, Gerry O'Flaherty

Gerry O'Flaherty

Gerard Joseph O'Flaherty is a retired American professional ice hockey player.-Career:...

, would go on to play in the NHL from 1971–1979.

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