gold star for USAHOF

1952 Hockey Inductees

The Hockey Hall of Fame would wait two more years to induct another class, and though it was not a large one, it was a talented group. With multi-time All Stars, Bill Cook and Nels Stewart, who was probably the best player of all time for the defunct Montreal Maroons. It is Stewart and Cook who were the true stars of this smaller class, and it was a spotlight that they both deserved to have.

Rightfully called the “First Ranger” (as he was the first player signed by New York, and their first captain), Bill Cook was a three time goal scoring champion in the National Hockey League and a three time post season First Team All Star. More importantly, he brought the Stanley Cup to Broadway twice in his tenure there. As the leader of the “Bread Line” with his…
Dubbed the “Little Man of Iron” due to his small stature and fierce tenacity, Dickie Boon was a two time star Stanley Cup winning defenceman for the Montreal Hockey Club. Boon historically is credited as the first player to use the poke check. After his playing days ended, he co-founded the Montreal Wanderers and managed them to four Stanley Cups. Boon’s induction is likely based on…
Although he did have four seasons in the NHL (culminating in a Stanley Cup win with Boston in his final season), Mickey MacKay made his biggest dent in the PCHL where he was a solid goal scorer and helped the Vancouver Millionaires win the Stanley Cup in 1915. After starring out west for years he wound down his career in the NHL, and though he was…
Although he never played in any organized league in Canada, Moose Goheen was an amateur legend in Minnesota. Goheen played for years in Minnesota leading the St. Paul Athletic Club to McNaughton Trophy (symbolic of the top team in U.S. Amateur Hockey) in consecutive years and likely would have won more had he not entered the U.S. Army in World War I. Goheen would return and…
A gifted scorer for the Montreal Wanderers dynasty that won four Stanley Cups in the late 1900’s, Thomas “Moose” Johnson essentially had two distinct careers in organized hockey. Johnson moved west to the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and shifted from Left Wing to Defense yet remained a perennial All Star. His other claim to fame was the use of what is believed to be the longest…
The man nicknamed “Old Poison” (and isn’t that one of the coolest nicknames you ever heard), retired as the NHL’s leading goal scorer in 1940 and held that status for twelve years. Nels Stewart was not just a great scorer, but an overall talented tough guy who was a physical presence everywhere on the ice. Stewart won the Hart Trophy twice as the league’s Most Valuable…