John Ross Roach
| John Ross Roach | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
June 23, 1900 Port Perry, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Died |
July 9, 1973 (aged 73) Windsor, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) | ||
| Weight | 130 lb (59 kg; 9 st 4 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Caught | Left | ||
| Played for |
Toronto St. Patricks Toronto Maple Leafs New York Rangers Detroit Red Wings | ||
| Playing career | 1921–1935 | ||
John Ross Roach (June 23, 1900 – July 9, 1973) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League between 1921 and 1935. His nicknames were "Little Napoleon", "The Housecleaner", "The Port Perry Cucumber", and the "Port Perry Woodpecker."
Playing career
Roach was born in Port Perry, Ontario. He won a Stanley Cup in 1922, which saw the Toronto St. Patricks defeat the Vancouver Millionaires in five games, with Game 4 seeing a 6-0 shutout by Roach that made him the first rookie goaltender with a shutout in the Stanley Cup Final; for whatever reason, the St. Patricks did not engrave their name or their players onto the Cup.[1]
Roach was one of only six goalies in the NHL to captain his team when he was with the Toronto St. Patricks during the 1924–25 season. He was a First Team All-Star during the 1932–33 NHL season, which saw him win 25 games to see him become the first ever goaltender to win 200 career games.[2] Roach was known for his acrobatic style of goaltending. When his NHL career ended, he was fifth all-time with shutouts for a goaltender with 58 while having the most wins in his career span of 1921 to 1935 with 219 victories. His amount of victories in total were 2nd to only George Hainsworth in NHL history.[3][4] He is one of just ten goaltenders with four seasons of having a Goals against average under 2.00.[5]
In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Roach at No. 64 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.[6]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | Min | GA | SO | GAA | GP | W | L | T | Min | GA | SO | GAA | ||
| 1919–20 | Toronto Aura Lee | OHA-Jr. | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 360 | 31 | 0 | 5.17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1920–21 | Toronto Granites | OHA-Sr. | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 566 | 12 | 3 | 1.27 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 120 | 7 | 0 | 3.50 | ||
| 1921–22 | Toronto St. Pats | NHL | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 1340 | 91 | 0 | 4.07 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 120 | 4 | 1 | 2.00 | ||
| 1921–22 | Toronto St. Pats | St-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 3 | 2 | — | 305 | 9 | 1 | 1.77 | ||
| 1922–23 | Toronto St. Pats | NHL | 24 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 1469 | 88 | 1 | 3.59 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1923–24 | Toronto St. Pats | NHL | 23 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 1380 | 80 | 1 | 3.48 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1924–25 | Toronto St. Pats | NHL | 30 | 19 | 11 | 0 | 1800 | 84 | 1 | 2.80 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 120 | 5 | 0 | 2.50 | ||
| 1925–26 | Toronto St. Pats | NHL | 36 | 12 | 21 | 3 | 2231 | 114 | 2 | 3.07 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1926–27 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 44 | 15 | 24 | 5 | 2764 | 94 | 4 | 2.04 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1927–28 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 43 | 18 | 18 | 7 | 2690 | 88 | 4 | 1.96 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1928–29 | New York Rangers | NHL | 44 | 21 | 13 | 10 | 2760 | 65 | 13 | 1.41 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 392 | 5 | 3 | 0.77 | ||
| 1929–30 | New York Rangers | NHL | 44 | 17 | 17 | 10 | 2770 | 143 | 1 | 3.10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 309 | 7 | 0 | 1.36 | ||
| 1930–31 | New York Rangers | NHL | 44 | 19 | 16 | 9 | 2760 | 87 | 7 | 1.89 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 240 | 4 | 1 | 1.00 | ||
| 1931–32 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 23 | 17 | 8 | 3020 | 112 | 9 | 2.23 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 480 | 27 | 1 | 3.38 | ||
| 1931–32 | Cleveland Indians | IHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 1.00 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1932–33 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 48 | 25 | 15 | 8 | 2970 | 93 | 10 | 1.88 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 240 | 8 | 1 | 2.00 | ||
| 1933–34 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 19 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1030 | 45 | 1 | 2.62 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1933–34 | Syracuse Stars | IHL | 13 | — | — | — | 780 | 36 | 2 | 2.77 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 560 | 15 | 1 | 1.61 | ||
| 1934–35 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 23 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 1460 | 62 | 4 | 2.55 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1934–35 | Detroit Olympics | IHL | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 560 | 15 | 1 | 1.61 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 492 | 219 | 204 | 68 | 30,444 | 1246 | 58 | 2.46 | 29 | 12 | 14 | 3 | 1901 | 60 | 7 | 1.89 | ||||
References
- ^ https://archive.thehockeynews.com/issue/393519/54?t=50.%20JOHN%20ROSS%20ROACH
- ^ "For combined seasons, up to 1932-33, playing goalie, in the regular season, sorted by descending Wins". Stathead.
- ^ "For combined seasons, up to 1934-35, playing goalie, in the regular season, sorted by descending Shutouts". Stathead. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
- ^ "For combined seasons, up to 1934-35, playing goalie, in the regular season, sorted by descending Wins". Stathead.
- ^ "Number of seasons player meets criteria, playing goalie, in the regular season, requiring Goals Against Average <= 2.00, sorted by descending instances". Stathead. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ Cohen, Russ; Halligan, John; Raider, Adam (2009). 100 Ranger Greats: Superstars, Unsung Heroes and Colorful Characters. John Wiley & Sons. p. 84. ISBN 978-0470736197.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- John Ross Roach at Find a Grave