ST PADDY'S DAY - KING CLANCY, LEGEND

By Salvatore Ianni

Date: 3/16/2001

On this St. Patrick's Day, it is only fitting that we salute the most beloved Irishman ever to play hockey. It is safe to say that no hockey personality has enjoyed the game more or brightened the lives of those around him more than Francis Michael "King" Clancy.

His own motto regarding hockey, and life in general, was "If you can't have fun at something, then why do it?" Clancy followed that motto to the fullest for over 60 years as a player, coach, referee, and executive.

Clancy was born in Ottawa on Feb. 25, 1903. He was the son of Tom Clancy, who was one of the best football players in Canada in the early part of the century. He was known as "The King Of The Heelers" because of his uncanny proficiency at 'heeling' the ball from scrimmage. His nickname was later shortened to "King" and it was later inherited permanently by his son Frank, as well as his natural athletic ability.

Clancy began his NHL career in his hometown of Ottawa with the original Senators in 1922. In that season, Clancy played very little until the playoffs when, during a series with Vancouver, he played every position on the ice, including goaltender when his team was hit by injuries and his goalie had to serve a 2-minute penalty by himself, which was in the rules then. This feat has never ben duplicated in Stanley Cup history. As a Senator, Clancy served as the backboane of their defense and anchored a star-studded lineup that would win the Stanley Cup in 1923 and again in 1927. But when the Depression hit North America in 1929, attendance suffered and the team began to lose money. In order to stay alive, the Senators had to sell their biggest asset, Clancy, and this would set the stage for one of hockey's biggest trades.

In 1927, Conn Smythe bought the Toronto St. Pats and renamed them the Maple Leafs, hoping to change their sagging fortunes. By 1930, the team had failed to improve and Smythe was looking to grab a star player that could lead his team to the Stanley Cup and also help to fill the seats in a new arena that he was hoping to build which would later become Maple Leaf Gardens. Smythe was convinced that Clancy was his man and he spared no expense in trying to get him. First, he bet on a horse he owned named Rare Jewel who was a longshot but by a stroke of luck he won his race and Smythe used his winnings to buy Clancy. He offered the cash-strapped Senators $35,000 as well as 2 fringe players, Art Smith and Eric Pettinger. The move worked briliantly. With Clancy on the Leafs, they won the Cup in 1932, their first season at the Gardens and they would finish in first place 4 times during the 1930s, thanks in part to Clancy.

Although Clancy retired as a player in 1937, he was far from finished with hockey. He coached the Montreal Maroons briefly, then turned to officiating, where he served for 11 years as a referee in the NHL. In 1950, Conn Smythe would bring him back to the Leafs' organization, where he remained for the rest of his life, first as a coach with their farm team in Pittsburgh, then with the Leafs from 1953-56, then as an assistant to new coach and GM Punch Imlach for 11 years, starting in 1958, the same year he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. He would also come back to coach the Leafs in 2 short but successful stints, first in 1967, leading them to a 10 game undefeated streak after suffering a 10 game losing streak under Imlach. In 1972, he filled in for an ailing John McLellan and did so well that the team awarded him the JP Bickell Trophy, which was normally given to a player.

From then on, he served as Vice-President and could usually be found in the Gardens sitting next to his close friend Harold Ballard. The two men would become inseperable until the very end when Clancy died on November 8, 1986. As a tribute, Ballard kept their seats in the 'bunker' closed and refused to sit there for a few days, and he also opened the Gardens to allow Clancy's many fans to see him one last time and say goodbye. There has never been anyone quite like King Clancy and the game of hockey is better and richer for having had him around for so long.