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Hap Day

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Canadian ice hockey player

Ice hockey player
Hap Day
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1961
Born (1901-06-14)June 14, 1901
Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada
Died February 17, 1990(1990-02-17) (aged 88)
St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Toronto St. Pats/Maple Leafs
New York Americans
Playing career 1924–1938

Clarence Henry "Happy" Day (June 14, 1901 – February 17, 1990), 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. Day enjoyed a 33-year career as a player, referee, coach and assistant general manager, 28 of which were spent in various capacities with the Maple Leafs. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961.

His name appears on the Stanley Cup 7 times—1932 (as Captain), 1942, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949 (as coach) and 1951 (as assistant manager); all with the Maple Leafs.

Early life

Day was born in Owen Sound, Ontario. During his teenage years, his family moved to Port McNicoll, Ontario, a small village outside Midland, Ontario. While developing his early hockey skills, Day skated with the Midland Juniors, and while attending Midland High School, wore the uniform of its hockey team. Legend has it he would often walk from Port McNicoll to Midland (approximately three kilometres away) in the winter, for games at the town's Casino Rink.

Day played senior lacrosse in Hamilton, Ontario in the early 1920s. He was teammates and roommates with future professional hockey players Carson Cooper, and future Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Frank Sargent.

Career

He played for the Hamilton Tigers of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1922–23 and 1923–24 then joined the varsity team at the University of Toronto, where he was enrolled as a pharmacy major.

Day was persuaded to turn professional in 1924 by Charlie Querrie, owner of the Toronto St. Pats. He played left wing in his rookie season and then switched to defence, where he would remain for the rest of his career. He became team captain in 1926.

In 1927, the St. Pats were purchased by Conn Smythe and renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs. Smythe kept Day as team captain. He also became a partner in Smythe's sand and gravel business. After Smythe acquired star defenceman King Clancy from the Ottawa Senators in 1931, Day and Clancy formed one of the top defence pairings in the NHL. The team won the Stanley Cup in 1932. While still playing for the Leafs, Day became coach of the West Toronto Nationals OHA junior team and led them to a Memorial Cup victory in 1936. On September 23, 1937, Day was sold to the New York Americans and spent one season there before retiring as a player in 1938. His 11-year tenure as captain of the St. Pats/Maple Leafs is second only to George Armstrong.

Day worked as a referee for the next two years before returning to the Leafs as coach. He guided the team through the 1940s, winning the Stanley Cup five times in 10 seasons. He was the winningest coach in Maple Leafs history until Punch Imlach passed him; Day still ranks second on the franchise wins list behind Imlach.

Smythe promoted Day to assistant general manager in 1950. His name was engraved on the cup a 7th time in 1951. In 1955, Smythe gave Day control over most hockey operations, but remained general manager on paper. Just after the Leafs were eliminated in the playoffs in March 1957, Day was publicly embarrassed by Smythe, who told the media that he didn't know if Day was available to return to the Leafs for the following season. Officially, Day resigned, but behind the scenes he had been pushed out and was replaced by a committee headed by Smythe's son Stafford Smythe.

Later life

Day retired to enter business life, running Elgin Handles in St. Thomas, Ontario until selling it to his son in 1977. Day was almost convinced by Jack Kent Cooke to become the first general manager of the Los Angeles Kings in 1967, but he decided not to take the job, recommending Larry Regan instead.

Day died in St. Thomas at age 88 in 1990. He and his number 4 were honoured (but not retired) by the Maple Leafs on October 4, 2006 at the Air Canada Centre. However, in 2016, the Maple Leafs retired his number, as part of their Centennial season celebrations.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1921–22 Collingwood OHA Jr — — — — — — — — — —
1922–23 Hamilton Tigers OHA Sr 11 4 11 15 4 2 0 0 0 0
1923–24 Hamilton Tigers OHA Sr 10 6 11 17 — 2 1 1 2 2
1924–25 Toronto St. Pats NHL 26 10 12 22 27 — — — — —
1925–26 Toronto St. Pats NHL 36 14 2 16 26 — — — — —
1926–27 Toronto St. Pats/Maple Leafs NHL 44 11 5 16 50 — — — — —
1927–28 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 27 9 8 17 48 — — — — —
1928–29 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 44 6 6 12 85 4 1 0 1 4
1929–30 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 43 7 14 21 77 — — — — —
1930–31 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 44 1 13 14 56 2 0 3 3 7
1931–32 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 47 7 8 15 33 7 3 3 6 6
1932–33 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 47 6 14 20 46 9 0 1 1 21
1933–34 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 48 9 10 19 35 5 0 0 0 6
1934–35 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 45 2 4 6 38 7 0 0 0 4
1935–36 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 44 1 13 14 41 9 0 0 0 8
1936–37 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 48 3 4 7 20 2 0 0 0 0
1937–38 New York Americans NHL 43 0 3 3 14 6 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 586 86 116 202 596 51 4 7 11 56

Coaching record

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Finish Result
TOR 1940–41 48 28 14 6 62 2nd in NHL Lost in semi-finals (3-4 vs. BOS)
TOR 1941–42 48 27 18 3 57 2nd in NHL Won in semi-finals (4-2 vs. NYR)
Won Stanley Cup (4-3 vs. DET)
TOR 1942–43 50 22 19 9 53 3rd in NHL Lost in semi-finals (2-4 vs. DET)
TOR 1943–44 50 23 23 4 50 3rd in NHL Lost in semi-finals (1-4 vs. MTL)
TOR 1944–45 50 24 22 4 52 3rd in NHL Won in semi-finals (4-2 vs. MTL)
Won Stanley Cup (4-3 vs. DET)
TOR 1945–46 50 19 24 7 45 5th in NHL Did not qualify
TOR 1946–47 60 31 19 10 72 2nd in NHL Won in semi-finals (4-1 vs. DET)
Won Stanley Cup (4-2 vs. MTL)
TOR 1947–48 60 32 15 13 77 1st in NHL Won in semi-finals (4-1 vs. BOS)
Won Stanley Cup (4-0 vs. DET)
TOR 1948–49 60 22 25 13 57 4th in NHL Won in semi-finals (4-1 vs. BOS)
Won Stanley Cup (4-0 vs. DET)
TOR 1949–50 70 31 27 12 74 3rd in NHL Lost in semi-finals (3-4 vs. DET)
Total 546 259 206 81 599 5 Stanley Cups (49-31, 0.613)

References

  1. "Frank Sargent dead at 86". The Chronicle-Journal. Thunder Bay, Ontario. September 29, 1988. p. 3.
  2. "Realm of Sport". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. April 19, 1940. p. 22.Free access icon
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 3, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Clarence "Happy" Day banner to come to St. Thomas".
  5. "Clarence (Hap) Day, Hockey Coach, 88". The New York Times. February 18, 1990.

External links

Preceded byBert Corbeau Toronto Maple Leafs captain
1927–37 		Succeeded byCharlie Conacher
Preceded byDick Irvin Head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs
1940–50 		Succeeded byJoe Primeau
Preceded byConn Smythe General manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs
1955–57 (shared with Conn Smythe) 		Succeeded byStafford Smythe (de facto)
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