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Hugh Lehman
Hughie Lehman
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Nickname(s) Old Eagle Eyes
Height
Weight
5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
168 lb (76 kg)
Teams Sault Ste. Marie Marlboros (IPHL)
Berlin Professionals (OPHL)
New Westminster Royals (PCHA)
Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA/WCHL/WHL)
Chicago Black Hawks (NHL)
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born October 27, 1885,
Pembroke, ON, CAN
Died April 6, 1961 (age 75),
Toronto, ON, CAN
Pro Career 1908 – 1928
Hall of Fame, 1958

Frederick Hugh Lehman (October 27, 1885 – April 6, 1961) was a Canadian professional goaltender. He started his ice hockey career playing for the Pembroke senior hockey team and the Berlin Professionals. In 1911, Lehman joined the New Westminster Royals, playing for the Royals for three seasons, before joining the Vancouver Millionaires in 1914. Lehman played half of his 22-year professional career with Vancouver, winning his only Stanley Cup; he would be unsuccessful in seven other attempts. In 1926, he joined the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), playing a full season and splitting the second one as player and head coach. Although some ice hockey historians credit Jacques Plante for originating the practice, Lehman was the first goaltender to regularly pass the puck to his fellow forwards and defensemen; he even scored a goal by shooting the puck in the opponent's net while playing for the Professionals. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.

Playing career[]

Vancouver Millionaires 1915

The Vancouver Millionaires in 1914–15, after their Stanley Cup victory; Lehman is seated bottom row, far right.

Lehman began his playing career in 1903–04, playing for Pembroke of the Upper Ottawa Valley Hockey League (UOVHL) for the first three seasons of his career. In the 1906–07 season, Lehman was signed as free agent by the Canadian Soo of the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL); the IPHL was the first fully professional ice hockey league. Lehman returned to Pembroke for the 1907–08 season, appearing in four games. For the 1908–09 season, Lehman joined the Berlin Professionals of the Ontario Professional Hockey League (OPHL). In the 1909–10 season, Lehman was in two different Stanley Cup playoff series, with two different teams, the Berlin Professionals, and the Galt Professionals, but he lost both times. During those playoff series, he appeared in three games, giving 22 goals. Lehman played with the Berlin Professionals until 1911.

In 1911–12, Lehman played for the New Westminster Royals of the newly-founded Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). He played three seasons for New Westminster, winning the league championship in his first season. In 1914–15, Lehman joined the Vancouver Millionaires of the PCHA. In his first season with the Millionaires, Lehman posted a 14–3 record, with a 4.08 goals-against average, which was a very good average in an era when goaltenders were not allowed to drop on their knees to make a save. In the Stanley Cup playoffs, Lehman helped the Millionaires become the first PCHA team to win the Stanley Cup, with a 3–0 record and 2.67 goals against average. This would be the only Stanley Cup victory of Lehman's career, as he was on the losing side in seven other attempts. The Millionaires squad consisted of seven future members of the Hockey Hall of Fame when they won the Cup: Lehman, Frank Nighbor, Cyclone Taylor, Si Griffis, Barney Stanley, Frank Patrick, and Mickey MacKay.

Lehman played with the Millionaires until the 1925–26 season. During that time, Lehman and some of his fellow teammates were involved in a humorous incident when going back to Canada after an exhibition game against the Montreal Wanderers in New York City. In New York, Lehman's wife bought numerous women's designer outfits, after being treated to a shopping spree by him. When going back to Canada, Lehman, on the advice of Cyclone Taylor, who was both a professional ice hockey player and a Canadian immigration officer, split up all outfits among his teammates to avoid paying additional taxes he would have had to pay if he had brought all the clothing by himself at once; this puzzled the Customs officers. In 1922–23, the Millionaires were renamed the Maroons, and joined the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The WCHL was renamed to the Western Hockey League in 1925–26; however, the league disbanded at the conclusion of that season. While playing for the Millionaires, Lehman appeared in six Stanley Cup finals, losing every time, except in his first season, in 1914–15.

Following the collapse of the WHL, Lehman joined the Chicago Black Hawks for the 1926–27 season. While in Chicago, Lehman mentored future Chicago goaltender and captain Charlie Gardiner. Lehman played one full season, and another four games the next one.

Coaching career[]

During the 1927–28 season, Black Hawks owner and manager Frederic McLaughlin was sketching some plays for his team; after Lehman was shown the plays by McLaughlin, Lehman responded by calling it "the craziest bunch of junk [he's] ever seen". Expecting to be fired after that outburst, Lehman was later told to go to McLaughlin's office. That was when Lehman's playing career ended, as McLaughlin appointed Lehman to be Chicago's new head coach. Lehman coached Chicago for part of one season, finishing with a 3–17–1 record over 21 games. He was replaced by Herb Gardiner the following season.

Playing style[]

As a goaltender, Lehman was a strong skater and good puckhandler. He chased down loose pucks, and was able to pass the puck to his forwards, surprising the other team's defenders. Playing in the OPHL, Lehman scored a goal by shooting the puck in the opponent's net. The first NHL goaltender to duplicate such a feat was Ron Hextall, who did it in 1987.


Legacy[]

Lehman was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.

Career statistics[]

Regular season[]

Season Team League GP W L T SO GAA
1903–04 Pembroke Lumber Kings OVHL 5 1 4 0 0
1904–05 Pembroke Lumber Kings OVHL
1905–06 Pembroke Lumber Kings OVHL 8 8 0 0 1 1.67
1906–07 Canadian Soo IPHL 24 13 11 0 0 5.14
1907–08 Pembroke Lumber Kings OVHL 4 2 2 0 0 5.50
1908–09 Berlin Professionals OPHL 15 9 6 0 0 4.85
1909–10 Berlin Professionals OPHL 17 11 6 0 3 4.53
1910–11 Berlin Professionals OPHL 15 7 8 0 0 5.80
1911–12 New Westminster Royals PCHA 15 9 6 0 0 5.07
1912–13 New Westminster Royals PCHA 12 4 18 0 0 4.14
1913–14 New Westminster Royals PCHA 16 7 9 0 0 4.87
1914–15 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 17 13 4 0 1 4.08
1915–16 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 18 9 9 0 0 3.97
1916–17 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 23 14 9 0 0 5.30
1917–18 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 18 9 9 0 1 3.05
1918–19 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 20 12 8 0 0 2.58
1919–20 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 22 11 11 0 1 2.92
1920–21 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 24 13 11 0 3 3.23
1921–22 Vancouver Maroons PCHA 22 12 10 0 4 2.82
1922–23 Vancouver Maroons PCHA 25 16 8 1 5 2.33
1923–24 Vancouver Maroons PCHA 30 13 16 1 1 2.60
1924–25 Vancouver Maroons WCHL 11 7 4 0 0 2.62
1925–26 Vancouver Maroons WHL 30 10 18 2 3 2.94
1926–27 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 44 19 22 3 5 2.49
1927–28 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 4 1 2 1 1 4.80

Playoffs[]

Season Team League GP W L T SO GAA
1905–06 Pembroke Lumber Kings NHA 1 1 0 0 1 0.00
1909–10 Galt Professionals OPHL 2 0 2 0 0 7.50
1909–10 Berlin Professionals OPHL 1 0 1 0 0 7.00
1914–15 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 3 3 0 0 0 2.67
1917–18 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 7 3 3 1 1 2.86
1918–19 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 2 1 1 0 0 3.50
1919–20 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 2 1 1 0 0 3.50
1920–21 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 7 4 3 0 1 2.00
1921–22 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 9 5 4 4 1 1.97
1922–23 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 6 2 4 0 1 2.17
1923–24 Vancouver Millionaires PCHA 7 2 5 0 0 2.53
1924–25 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 2 0 1 1 0 5.00


Notes[]


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Hugh Lehman. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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