Mike Karakas

Mike Karakas
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Nickname(s)	Iron Mike
Height Weight	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 147 lb (67 kg)
Teams	Chicago Black Hawks
Nationality	American
Born	December 12, 1911, Aurora, Minnesota
Died	May 2, 1992 (age 80), place unknown
Pro Career	1935 – 1946

Mike Karakas (December 12, 1911 – May 2, 1992) was an American professional goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL) who was the league's first American-born and trained goaltender. Karakas played six full seasons and parts of two others with Chicago Black Hawks. He appeared in two Stanley Cup Finals, winning once. In 1938, Karakas led Chicago, who had .411 winning percentage in the regular season, to a second Stanley Cup, playing with a steel-toed boot in the last two games of the Finals after he had broken it in the first game of the Finals. Karakas is one of the original members of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

Biography

Born in Aurora, Minnesota, he grew up in nearby Eveleth. Growing up, Karakas and Frank Brimsek, who also became a goaltender in the NHL, were battery mates for their high school baseball team, with Karakas catching.

Karakas played six full seasons for the Chicago Black Hawks between 1936 and 1945. In his first season with the Black Hawks, Karakas was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy after posting a 1.85 goals-against-average with nine shutouts in 48 games. Karakas was only invited to play for the Black Hawks because their regular goaltender, Lorne Chabot, was injured. After posting four wins in four games, with three shutouts, the Black Hawks made Karakas their starting goaltender; Chabot was later traded to the Montreal Maroons.

Karakas won the Stanley Cup in the 1937–38 season, playing for the first out of two teams which won the Cup with a losing record. For the 1937-38 Chicago Black Hawks season, their owner, Major Frederic McLaughlin, order his general manager to "ice [him] a team of all American players." After losing five of its six first games with an all-American roster, some Canadian players were added; however, the team finished the season with an 14–25–9 record for a .411 winning percentage.

In the playoffs, Karakas suffered a broken toe just before the start of the Stanley Cup final against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Black Hawks were forced to substitute Alfie Moore for Karakas in the first game. After the first game, Moore was ruled ineligible, and the Black Hawks lost the next game. Karakas returned with a steel-toed boot and won the next two games, leading the Black Hawks to their second Stanley Cup win. Overall in that playoff run, Karakas had a 6–2 record, with two shutouts and a 1.71 goals-against-average.

After helping Chicago win the Stanley Cup in 1938, Karakas asked the team's owners for a $500 raise. The owners refused the raise, and for the next five seasons Karakas played three full seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL), and split two between the AHL and the NHL.

Karakas had 28 shutouts in the regular season, and another three in the playoffs in his six seasons in the NHL. In each of the six full seasons in which Karakas appeared, he played all 48 games. In 1973, Karakas was named as an original member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, located in his hometown of Eveleth.

Career Statistics

Regular Season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1930–31	Chicago Shamrocks	AHA		8	0	0	0	0	98	0	2.09
1931–32	Chicago Shamrocks	AHA		48	0	0	0	0	72	0	1.50
1932–33	St. Louis Flyers	AHA		44	0	0	0	0	88	0	2.00
1933–34	Tulsa Oilers	AHA		48	0	0	0	0	110	0	2.29
1934–35	Tulsa Oilers	AHA		41	20	17	4	2640	77	4	1.75
1935–36	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	21	19	8	2990	92	9	1.85
1936–37	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	14	27	7	2978	131	5	2.64
1937–38	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	14	25	9	2980	139	1	2.80
1938–39	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	12	28	8	2988	132	5	2.65
1939–40	Providence Reds	IAHL		14	0	0	0	0	43	1	3.07
1939–40	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		17	7	9	1	1050	58	0	3.31
1939–40	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		5	0	4	1	310	18	0	3.48
1940–41	Providence Reds	AHL		56	0	0	0	0	161	0	2.87
1941–42	Providence Reds	AHL		0	0	0	0	0	244	1	4.28
1941–42	New Haven Eagles	AHL		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
1942–43	Providence Reds	AHL		56	0	0	0	0	216	2	3.86
1943–44	Providence Reds	AHL		25	0	0	0	0	85	0	3.40
1943–44	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		26	12	9	5	1560	79	3	3.04
1944–45	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	12	29	7	2880	187	4	3.90
1945–46	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		48	22	19	7	2880	166	1	3.46
1946–47	Providence Reds	AHL		62	21	31	10	3720	266	0	4.29
1947–48	Providence Reds	AHL		2	0	0	0	0	7	0	3.50
NHL Totals				336	114	169	53	20616	1002	28	2.92

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1935–36	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		2	1	1	120	7	0	3.50
1937–38	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		8	6	2	525	15	2	1.71
1943–44	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		9	4	5	549	24	1	2.62
1945–46	Chicago Black Hawks	NHL		4	0	4	240	26	0	6.50
NHL Totals				23	11	12	1434	72	3	3.01

Gallery

Phil Watson scores on Mike Karakas while #8 Alex Levinsky and #15 Cully Dahlstrom look on, February 1, 1938.

Mike Karakas makes a save, 1938 Quarter-finals Game 1, March 22, 1938.

Mike Karakas and Frank Brimsek with their mothers, February 5, 1939.

Don Gallinger and Herb Cain of the Bruins battle Chicago goalie Mike Karakas, March 17, 1946.

John Mariucci and Mike Karakas fend off Maurice Richard in 1945-46 season action.

External Links

• Mike Karakas's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by Sweeney Schriner

NHL Rookie of the Year 1936

Succeeded by Syl Apps