Frank McGee (ice hockey)

Francis Clarence McGee, (November 4, 1882 – September 16, 1916) was an ice hockey player during the early days of hockey for the Ottawa Hockey Club, nicknamed the Silver Seven. Though blind in one eye, McGee was a legendary player of his era, and known as a prolific scorer. He once scored 14 goals in a Stanley Cup game and eight times scored five or more. Despite a brief senior career — only 45 games over four seasons — he led the Silver Seven in its reign as Stanley Cup champions during this time (1903–06), playing both centre and rover. During World War I, he enlisted in the Canadian Army and died in battle in France. When the Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1945, McGee was one of the original nine inductees.

Frank McGee came from a prominent Canadian family. His late uncle, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, had been a Father of Confederation. His father, John Joseph McGee, was clerk of the Privy Council (considered the top civil servant position). Frank was one of nine children born to John Joseph McGee and Elizabeth Crotty. Frank had five brothers and three sisters, Thomas D'Arcy, Jim, John, Walter, Charles, Katharine, Mary and Lillian. His brother Jim was also a noted athlete in football and ice hockey before dying in a horse-riding accident in May 1904. Charles, like Frank, also died in World War I.

After his education in Ottawa, McGee worked for the Canadian government Department of Indian Affairs, but he had a passion for sports and played lacrosse and rugby and excelled at ice hockey. While playing half-back for his rugby team, Ottawa City, he was a member of the team that won the Canadian championship in 1898. He played for the Ottawa Hockey Club from 1902 until 1906.

Reproduction of health form. Library and ArchivesCanada/Soldiers of the First World War/RG 150, Accession No.1992-93/166, box 6829-29. His age, height and weight are listed.

He enlisted in the military and fought in World War I for the 43rd Regiment (Duke of Cornwall’s Own Rifles) as a lieutenant in the 21st Infantry Battalion, starting in May 1915. That December he suffered a knee injury, and was sent to England to recover. He was given the choice of a posting in Le Havre away from the action, but chose to return to his battalion at the front. He returned to the 21st Battalion in August 1916 for the Battle of the Somme and was killed in action on September 16, 1916 near Courcelette, France. His body was never recovered. His brother Charles died in action in May 1915.

It is not known how McGee was allowed into the army with sight in only one eye. In his certificate of examination, the medical officer wrote that McGee could "see the required distance with either eye." According to McGee's nephew, Frank Charles McGee, his uncle tricked the doctor. When he was asked to cover one eye and read the chart he covered his blind eye, and when required to cover the other eye he switched hands instead of eyes. His medical history only lists "good" for his vision.

On March 21, 1900, the young and promising McGee lost use of an eye during an amateur game for a local Canadian Pacific Railway team from a "lifted puck." He retired from playing, becoming a referee. By 1903, he missed playing the sport so much that he joined the Ottawas despite the risk of permanent blindness. McGee was the youngest member of the team and stood only five feet six inches tall in a brutal sport; regardless, he excelled.

Frank McGee (standing - far right) as a member of the 1905 Ottawa Silver Seven

McGee was considered an outstanding playmaker and deadly scorer. He scored two goals in his first game with Ottawa. On a number of occasions, he scored several goals in a single game, the most famous being his 14-goal effort in a 23-2 victory over the team from Dawson City, on January 16, 1905. Those 14 goals, which included eight consecutive goals scored in less than nine minutes, remain to this day the most goals scored by a single player in a Stanley Cup hockey game, and has not been surpassed in any professional match. It was the most lopsided playoff game in Stanley Cup history. He scored five or more goals in eight other senior matches; his highest single-game total in regular season play was eight on March 3, 1906 against the Montreal Hockey Club.

His linemates included future Hall of Famers Alf Smith, Harry Westwick, Billy Gilmour and Tommy Smith. Frank Patrick, a contemporary of McGee's and like him a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, described McGee: "He was even better than they say he was. He had everything - speed, stickhandling, scoring ability and was a punishing checker. He was strongly built but beautifully proportioned and he had an almost animal rhythm."

After Ottawa lost the Stanley Cup to the Montreal Wanderers in 1906, McGee retired at just 23 years old. His retirement is attributed to his government position not allowing him to travel. He had briefly retired after his brother Jim's death in 1904. McGee retired after scoring 135 goals in only 45 games (both league and challenge). Only Russell Bowie rivals his average of 3 goals per game.

McGee was one of the original players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame at its founding in 1945. Five years later, a poll of sports editors of Canadian newspapers selected the Silver Seven as the country’s outstanding team in the first half of the 20th century. In 1966, he was inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame.

Regular season and playoffs

• Second-highest goals-per-game average in Stanley Cup playoffs: 2.86 (63 goals in 22 games) behind Marty Walsh's 3.125.
• Most career goals in Stanley Cup Finals: 63°
• Most goals in one playoff series: 15 in two games in 1905 at Ottawa versus Dawson City.
• Most goals, one playoff game: 14, January 16, 1905 at Ottawa versus Dawson City.

°Before the modern multi-round playoffs format was introduced in 1914, competition for the Stanley Cup was done via a 'challenge series' between two teams, typically spanning three games or fewer. These games effectively all counted as 'Finals' matches from 1893 to 1914, as the distinction between playoffs and finals would not come about until the latter year. Despite this, and despite having only played in 22 Stanley Cup matches through his brief career, McGee currently stands at 25th all-time in total playoff goals, behind Yvan Cournoyer and ahead of Bobby Hull - who played in 147 and 119 post-season games, respectively.

Source: Diamond(2000), p. 91