Frank Finnigan
Encyclopedia
Francis Arthur Clarence "The Shawville Express" Finnigan (July 9, 1903–December 25, 1991) was a Canadian
ice hockey
professional forward
who played in the National Hockey League
(NHL) from 1923 to 1937. During this time, he played for the Ottawa Senators
, Toronto Maple Leafs
, and St. Louis Eagles
, and was nicknamed the "Shawville Express." His younger brother Eddie Finnigan
also played in the NHL. His daughter Joan Finnigan
became a published writer. He was the last surviving member of the 1927 Stanley Cup
champion Senators.
, located northwest of Ottawa
along the Ottawa River
. He grew up in Shawville, attending school and playing minor hockey. He retained a home in Shawville after becoming a professional hockey player. He married Maye Horner (1901–1992) and the couple had four children, Joan(1925–2007), Frank Jr., Norma and Ross. Finnigan suffered a heart attack on December 18, 1991 and he died on Christmas Day in 1991 in Shawville Hospital. He was survived by his wife and children and several grandchildren.
After retiring from professional hockey, Finnigan went into private business in the Ottawa area. He managed the Olde Colonial Hotel at the corner of O'Connor and Queen Streets in Ottawa. Finnigan sold his shares of the hotel and became head of sales for Brading's Brewery. It was while working at Brading's that Finnigan developed alcoholism
and lost his job. He found a job in the federal government through Frank Ahearn, former owner of the Senators, and later Member of Parliament in Ottawa. During World War II, Finnigan joined the Canadian Air Force, and was a member for seven years. Finnigan then owned and managed the Merrickville Hotel in Merrickville, Ontario. Finnigan moved to Shawville and bought the Clarendon Hotel. Finnigan eventually overcame his problems with alcohol and sold the hotel and retired, remaining in the Shawville area.
Finnigan died before the new team would play its first game in 1992, for which he was scheduled to drop the puck for the ceremonial face-off. Instead, on opening night the honour went to his son, Frank Jr. to drop the puck. On that night, the team honoured him by retiring the #8 jersey, making him one of three players in NHL history to have his uniform retired by a team for which he never actually played.
Finnigan's number was retired 58 years after he finished his NHL career - the longest wait for a player to have their number retired.
The street in front of the main entrance to the Ottawa Senators' arena - Scotiabank Place
is named Frank Finnigan Way in his honour. There is also a restaurant inside Scotiabank Place named 'Frank Finnigan's'. A banner honouring his retired number hangs from the rafters also.
At the time of his death, Finnigan was the last surviving member of the Senators Stanley Cup
-winning team from the 1926–1927 season, the final season of the 1919–27 Ottawa Senators dynasty and one of only a handful of players still alive from the NHL Senators days. He was also the oldest living NHL player and was scheduled to appear at various NHL functions.
in the Ottawa City Hockey League
(OCHL) in nearby Ottawa
in 1921–22. According to Finnigan, he was paid to play for the University and did not have to submit any assignments. As he had to take the train from Shawville to Ottawa, he picked up the nickname of "Shawville Express." He played two more seasons for teams in the OCHL, with Ottawa Collegiate and Ottawa Montagnards before joining the Ottawa Senators in the 1923–24 season.
Finnigan was an integral member of the 1927 Stanley Cup
champion Senators team, playing on a line with Hec Kilrea
and Frank Nighbor
. He later served as the Senators captain from 1930–1933, and scored a high of 21 goals in the 1929–30 season
. When the Senators suspended operations for the 1931–32 NHL season, Finnigan played for the Toronto Maple Leafs
, winning the Stanley Cup for a second time, returning to the Senators the following season. Finnigan scored the final Senators goal in the final season that the NHL Senators played in Ottawa. He scored an unassisted goal at the 1 minute, 7 second mark of the second period on March 15, 1934. The following season, he moved with the other Senators players to play for the transferred franchise in St. Louis, Missouri
known as the St. Louis Eagles
in the 1934-35 season. He was sold by the Eagles to the Maple Leafs before the season's end in February 1935 and he finished his career with several seasons with the Maple Leafs as a "defensive specialist."
In 1937, Finnigan retired from the NHL. He returned to Ottawa and played ice hockey for various amateur teams, including the Ottawa RCAF Flyers while he was in the Air Force.
This was the NHL's first all-star game, held as a benefit for Toronto player Ace Bailey
. The first official NHL All-Star Game was held in 1947.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
professional forward
Forward (ice hockey)
In ice hockey, a forward is a player position on the ice whose primary responsibility is to score goals. Generally, the forwards try to stay in three different lanes, also known as thirds, of the ice going from goal to goal. It is not mandatory however, to stay in a lane. Staying in a lane aids in...
who played in the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL) from 1923 to 1937. During this time, he played for the Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...
, Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, and St. Louis Eagles
St. Louis Eagles
The St. Louis Eagles were a professional ice hockey team and a former member of the National Hockey League based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Eagles existed for only one year, playing in the 1934–35 NHL season....
, and was nicknamed the "Shawville Express." His younger brother Eddie Finnigan
Eddie Finnigan
Edward David Finnigan - was a Professional ice hockey Left Winger who played two seasons in the National Hockey League for the St. Louis Eagles and Boston Bruins. He had a distinguished amateur career, playing in one Memorial Cup final and four Allan Cup finals.Finnigan was born in Shawville, Quebec...
also played in the NHL. His daughter Joan Finnigan
Joan Finnigan
Joan Helen Finnigan was a Canadian writer and poet. She won a Genie Award for Best Screenplay in 1969. She wrote over 30 books, many of them oral histories of the Ottawa Valley.-Personal life:...
became a published writer. He was the last surviving member of the 1927 Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
champion Senators.
Personal life
Frank Finnigan was born in 1900 in Shawville, Quebec, a primarily anglophone town in the province of QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, located northwest of Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
along the Ottawa River
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
. He grew up in Shawville, attending school and playing minor hockey. He retained a home in Shawville after becoming a professional hockey player. He married Maye Horner (1901–1992) and the couple had four children, Joan(1925–2007), Frank Jr., Norma and Ross. Finnigan suffered a heart attack on December 18, 1991 and he died on Christmas Day in 1991 in Shawville Hospital. He was survived by his wife and children and several grandchildren.
After retiring from professional hockey, Finnigan went into private business in the Ottawa area. He managed the Olde Colonial Hotel at the corner of O'Connor and Queen Streets in Ottawa. Finnigan sold his shares of the hotel and became head of sales for Brading's Brewery. It was while working at Brading's that Finnigan developed alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and lost his job. He found a job in the federal government through Frank Ahearn, former owner of the Senators, and later Member of Parliament in Ottawa. During World War II, Finnigan joined the Canadian Air Force, and was a member for seven years. Finnigan then owned and managed the Merrickville Hotel in Merrickville, Ontario. Finnigan moved to Shawville and bought the Clarendon Hotel. Finnigan eventually overcame his problems with alcohol and sold the hotel and retired, remaining in the Shawville area.
The 'Bring Back The Senators' campaign
When the NHL planned to expand in 1989, the consortium to obtain a franchise for Ottawa signed Finnigan to be part of the 'Bring Back The Senators' campaign team. Finnigan along with his son Frank Jr., made public appearances on behalf of the campaign. Finnigan was also part of the presentation team to the NHL expansion committee in December 1990. The group was successful and the new Ottawa Senators team began play in the 1992–93 NHL season.Finnigan died before the new team would play its first game in 1992, for which he was scheduled to drop the puck for the ceremonial face-off. Instead, on opening night the honour went to his son, Frank Jr. to drop the puck. On that night, the team honoured him by retiring the #8 jersey, making him one of three players in NHL history to have his uniform retired by a team for which he never actually played.
Finnigan's number was retired 58 years after he finished his NHL career - the longest wait for a player to have their number retired.
The street in front of the main entrance to the Ottawa Senators' arena - Scotiabank Place
Scotiabank Place
Scotiabank Place is a multi-purpose arena, located in Kanata, a suburban district of Ottawa, Ontario. It is home to the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. It has also hosted the Canadian University Men's Basketball Championship...
is named Frank Finnigan Way in his honour. There is also a restaurant inside Scotiabank Place named 'Frank Finnigan's'. A banner honouring his retired number hangs from the rafters also.
At the time of his death, Finnigan was the last surviving member of the Senators Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
-winning team from the 1926–1927 season, the final season of the 1919–27 Ottawa Senators dynasty and one of only a handful of players still alive from the NHL Senators days. He was also the oldest living NHL player and was scheduled to appear at various NHL functions.
Playing career
Finnigan learned at an early age that there was money to be made in hockey. He received his first fee for playing hockey when he was 13, playing for Quyon against Fitzroy Harbour, for which he received $10. Finnigan first played senior-level hockey for the University of OttawaUniversity of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
in the Ottawa City Hockey League
Ottawa City Hockey League
The Ottawa City Hockey League was an amateur ice hockey league with junior, intermediate and senior level men's teams in Ottawa, Canada dating from 1890. It is considered the second ice hockey league to form in Canada. The senior league operated until 1945 and the junior league operated until 1957...
(OCHL) in nearby Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
in 1921–22. According to Finnigan, he was paid to play for the University and did not have to submit any assignments. As he had to take the train from Shawville to Ottawa, he picked up the nickname of "Shawville Express." He played two more seasons for teams in the OCHL, with Ottawa Collegiate and Ottawa Montagnards before joining the Ottawa Senators in the 1923–24 season.
Finnigan was an integral member of the 1927 Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
champion Senators team, playing on a line with Hec Kilrea
Hec Kilrea
Hector Joseph "Hurricane" Kilrea was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He played for the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Falcons, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League...
and Frank Nighbor
Frank Nighbor
Julius Francis "Pembroke Peach" Nighbor was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League and National Hockey Association and Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL, Toronto Blueshirts of the NHA and Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific...
. He later served as the Senators captain from 1930–1933, and scored a high of 21 goals in the 1929–30 season
1929–30 Ottawa Senators season
The 1929–30 Ottawa Senators season was the club's 13th season in the NHL, 45th overall.The Senators finished third in the Canadian Division, making the playoffs, losing in the first round to the New York Rangers...
. When the Senators suspended operations for the 1931–32 NHL season, Finnigan played for the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, winning the Stanley Cup for a second time, returning to the Senators the following season. Finnigan scored the final Senators goal in the final season that the NHL Senators played in Ottawa. He scored an unassisted goal at the 1 minute, 7 second mark of the second period on March 15, 1934. The following season, he moved with the other Senators players to play for the transferred franchise in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
known as the St. Louis Eagles
St. Louis Eagles
The St. Louis Eagles were a professional ice hockey team and a former member of the National Hockey League based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Eagles existed for only one year, playing in the 1934–35 NHL season....
in the 1934-35 season. He was sold by the Eagles to the Maple Leafs before the season's end in February 1935 and he finished his career with several seasons with the Maple Leafs as a "defensive specialist."
In 1937, Finnigan retired from the NHL. He returned to Ottawa and played ice hockey for various amateur teams, including the Ottawa RCAF Flyers while he was in the Air Force.
NHL statistics
Regular season| Season | Team | GP | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923–24 | Ottawa Senators Ottawa Senators (original) The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934... |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1924–25 | Ottawa Senators | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925–26 | Ottawa Senators | 36 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 1926–27 | Ottawa Senators | 36 | 15 | 1 | 16 |
| 1927–28 | Ottawa Senators | 36 | 20 | 5 | 25 |
| 1928–29 | Ottawa Senators | 44 | 15 | 4 | 19 |
| 1929–30 | Ottawa Senators | 43 | 21 | 15 | 36 |
| 1930–31 | Ottawa Senators | 44 | 9 | 8 | 17 |
| 1931–32 | Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... |
47 | 8 | 13 | 21 |
| 1932–33 | Ottawa Senators | 45 | 4 | 14 | 18 |
| 1933–34 | Ottawa Senators | 48 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| 1934–35 | St. Louis Eagles St. Louis Eagles The St. Louis Eagles were a professional ice hockey team and a former member of the National Hockey League based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Eagles existed for only one year, playing in the 1934–35 NHL season.... |
34 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 1934–35 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 1935–36 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 1936–37 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Totals: | 553 | 115 | 88 | 203 |
Awards
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (1934).
This was the NHL's first all-star game, held as a benefit for Toronto player Ace Bailey
Ace Bailey
Irvine Wallace "Ace" Bailey was an ice hockey player who competed for the Toronto Maple Leafs during eight seasons, from 1926–1933.-Playing career:...
. The first official NHL All-Star Game was held in 1947.
