Pat Egan

Pat Egan
Born (1918-04-25)April 25, 1918
Blackie, AB, CAN
Died June 3, 2008(2008-06-03) (aged 90)
Berkeley Heights, NJ, USA
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for New York Americans
Brooklyn Americans
Detroit Red Wings
Boston Bruins
New York Rangers
Playing career 1938–1966

Martin Joseph "Pat" Egan (April 25, 1918 – June 3, 2008) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman, most notably for the Boston Bruins and New York Americans of the National Hockey League. He went on to coach the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League to three straight Calder Cup championships, the only time that has ever been done.

Playing career

Born in Blackie, Alberta, Egan started his professional career with the Seattle Seahawks of the Pacific Coast Hockey League in 1938, recording 185 penalty minutes in only 44 games. The next season he played mostly for Springfield, but was recalled to make his NHL debut for the New York Americans, playing in ten games that season. He played two more seasons with the Americans' franchise before serving in the military in 1942–43.

Egan was back in pro hockey in the 1944 season, but as the Americans' franchise had folded, his rights were acquired by the Detroit Red Wings. After only half a season with Detroit, the hardrock defenseman was traded to the Boston Bruins for star offensive defenseman Flash Hollett. Egan would anchor the Bruins' defense corps for six seasons in all, before being traded to the New York Rangers in 1949, for whom he would play two seasons.

By 1951, Egan was slowing down, and was sent down to the minor leagues for good. He played nine more years in the minors, principally for the Providence Reds of the AHL, his final action coming in 1959 when he played a few games for the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League. His later minor league career was marred by an incident in November 1952 when he was suspended by the AHL for life for assaulting a linesman; the suspension was lifted a week later.

Egan finished his NHL career with 77 goals and 153 assists for 230 points in 554 games, adding 776 penalty minutes.

Coaching career and retirement

Egan was tabbed as a coach even while still playing, serving as player-coach of the Reds in 1954 and 1955, and as player-coach of the Nelson Maple Leafs of the senior Western International Hockey League in 1957.

Immediately following his retirement as a player, Egan was hired by Springfield Indians team owner Eddie Shore to coach the club, and the powerful Indians went on to win three straight first place finishes and three straight Calder Cup championships under his aegis. His tenure under the turbulent Shore lasted three more seasons, but the Indians failed to make the playoffs in any of them, moving on to coach the Jacksonville Rockets of the Eastern Hockey League in 1966. With the team beset by injuries, Egan laced up the skates one final time, playing 19 games with the Rockets at age 47, after which he hung them up for good.

After a final season coaching for the Knoxville Knights of the EHL in 1968, Egan went on to work in Operations for Northeastern University for 22 years until his retirement. Save for the three Calder Cup championship seasons in Springfield, Egan had no other playoff teams in his eleven-year coaching career.

Achievements and facts

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1935–36 Calgary Radios AAHA 6 1 2 3 14 3 0 0 0 11
1936–37 Nelson Maple Leafs WKHL 14 2 2 4 14 — — — — —
1937–38 Sudbury Frood Tigers NOHA 11 0 0 0 19 2 0 1 1 0
1938–39 Seattle Seahawks PCHL 44 9 11 20 185 7 1 2 3 25
1939–40 New York Americans NHL 10 4 3 7 6 2 0 0 0 4
1939–40 Springfield Indians IAHL 47 12 11 23 74 3 0 0 0 10
1940–41 New York Americans NHL 39 4 9 13 51 — — — — —
1941–42 Brooklyn Americans NHL 48 8 20 28 124 — — — — —
1942–43 Montreal Army MCHL 19 6 8 14 56 7 0 0 0 28
1943–44 Detroit Red Wings NHL 23 4 15 19 40 — — — — —
1943–44 Boston Bruins NHL 25 11 13 24 55 — — — — —
1944–45 Boston Bruins NHL 48 7 15 22 86 7 2 0 2 6
1945–46 Boston Bruins NHL 41 8 10 18 32 10 3 0 3 8
1946–47 Boston Bruins NHL 60 7 18 25 89 5 0 2 2 6
1947–48 Boston Bruins NHL 60 8 11 19 81 5 1 1 2 2
1948–49 Boston Bruins NHL 60 6 18 24 92 5 0 0 0 16
1949–50 New York Rangers NHL 70 5 11 16 50 12 3 1 4 6
1950–51 New York Rangers NHL 70 5 10 15 70 — — — — —
1951–52 Cincinnati Mohawks AHL 36 6 8 14 85 — — — — —
1951–52 Providence Reds AHL 32 3 22 25 64 15 2 7 9 49
1952–53 Providence Reds AHL 26 6 9 15 48 — — — — —
1953–54 Providence Reds AHL 70 10 19 29 127 — — — — —
1954–55 Providence Reds AHL 59 6 28 34 149 — — — — —
1955–56 Vancouver Canucks WHL 70 4 22 26 163 15 0 5 5 20
1956–57 Nelson Maple Leafs WIHL 36 8 19 27 118 5 0 0 0 11
1957–58 Victoria Cougars WHL 59 9 27 36 163 — — — — —
1957–58 Nelson Maple Leafs WIHL 5 1 1 2 30 — — — — —
1958–59 Victoria Cougars WHL 3 0 1 1 4 — — — — —
AHL/IAHL totals 270 43 97 140 547 18 2 7 9 59
NHL totals 554 77 153 230 776 46 9 4 13 48
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