The Icelandic Canadian - 01.02.2007, Side 24

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 60 #4
competed in a hockey tournament that
would prove to be the true highlight of
his career. When he was a member of
the 1920 Canadian Olympic team that
traveled to Antwerp, Belgium, for the
first and only time that ice hockey was
played in the Summer Olympics.
In those days, Canada didn't select
a national team composed of the top
talent from around the country;
instead, the nation's top amateur club
earned the right to wear the national
colors. Benson's Winnipeg Falcons,
led by coach Frank Rankin and gener-
al manager and secretary William
Hewitt, had a strong nucleus made up
mostly of players of Icelandic descent,
including team captain and center
Frank Fredrickson, forward Chris
Fridfinnson and winger Slim Flalderson.
They defeated the University of Toronto
seniors in a two game Allan Cup final
series in March 1920 and were invited
to represent Canada at the Olympics,
where they won gold.
After the Games, Benson had a
whirlwind career as a pro. Fie signed as
a free agent with the Saskatoon
Crescents of the Western Canada
Flockey League, where he played two
seasons before being traded to the
Calgary Tigers of the same league.
After three more seasons he was trad-
ed again, this time to the Montreal
Maroons, on January 6, 1925. But that
same day he was traded to the Bruins
for Alf Skinner. After his brief stint with
Boston he returned to Saskatoon but
was traded to Edmonton of the
Western Flockey League a few months
later. Then came seasons with the
Moose Jaw Maroons, Minneapolis
Miners, Seattle Eskimos and
Hollywood Stars, all in various profes-
sional and semipro leagues in the
western part of Canada and the U.S.
This nomadic pro career may obscure
the fact that Bobby Benson was a key
defensive skater in Canada's early
Olympic hockey history.
PAUL GOODMAN
Goalie Paul Goodman spent parts of
three seasons with the Chicago Black
Hawks in the 30s and 40s. He was
best known in senior hockey circles
and with fans of the American Hockey
Association.
Born in Selkirk, Manitoba Goodman
played four years with the home town
Fishermen of the MSHL. He then
played three years in the AHA with the
offensively weak Wichita Skyhawks. In
1936-37 he led the league with 27
losses but recorded nine shutouts and
a 1.77 goals against average.
Goodman made an unexpected
NHL debut during the second game of
the Stanley Cup finals in 1938 to
replace the injured Mike Karakas. He
allowed five goals in a loss to the
Toronto Maple Leafs but the Hawks
won the Stanley Cup. The young net-
minder returned to Wichita the next