Cooney Weiland

Ralph "Cooney" Weiland (November 5, 1904 – July 3, 1985) was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played for the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, and Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Weiland was part of the Bruins' 1928 "Dynamite Line" with Dutch Gainor and Dit Clapper, one of the earliest "named" forward lines in NHL history. He was born in Egmondville, Ontario, but grew up in Seaforth, Ontario.

Cooney Weiland
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1971
Born (1904-11-05)November 5, 1904
Egmondville, Ontario, Canada
Died July 3, 1985(1985-07-03) (aged 80)
Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight 155 lb (70 kg; 11 st 1 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Boston Bruins
Ottawa Senators
Detroit Red Wings
Playing career 19251939

Career

Player

Weiland began playing junior hockey in Seaforth, where he spent three seasons with his hometown team. In 1923 he moved to Owen Sound, Ontario to attend school, planning a career as a druggist.[1] He joined that city's junior team, the Owen Sound Greys, and led them to the 1924 Memorial Cup as Canadian champions. He was the club's top scorer with 68 goals in 25 games.[2]

After the Greys lost the 1925 OHA final to Toronto Aura Lee, Weiland began a three-year stint with the Minneapolis Millers of the old American Hockey Association. That led to the start of his NHL career with Boston, where he celebrated his rookie campaign in 1928–29 with a Stanley Cup victory over the New York Rangers. It was the first Cup win in Bruins history.

In his second season during 1929–30, he scored 43 goals and 73 points in 44 games. That year, the NHL allowed forward passing for the first time, but it did not create its offsides rule until December 1929. Weiland flourished under those conditions, shattering the NHL's single-season points record of 51 which had been set two years earlier by Montreal Canadiens legend Howie Morenz. Weiland held the record alone until 1942–43, when Doug Bentley of the Chicago Black Hawks tied it, and shared it for one more year—Boston's Herb Cain broke the record with 82 points in 1943–44.

Weiland scored four goals in Boston's 7–0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on February 25, 1930, becoming the third Bruin to achieve the feat.

The Bruins went to the Cup final again in 1930 but were swept by Montreal. Weiland had a brief career with Ottawa and played two seasons in Detroit, reaching the Cup final for a third time in 1934. One of his fellow Red Wings that year was Teddy Graham, an old teammate from the 1924 Greys. Weiland returned to Boston in 1935 and retired in 1939 with 173 goals and 333 points in 510 career games. But he ended his NHL playing career as he had begun it; the Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs and earned their second Stanley Cup.

Coach

He then stepped behind the bench as the club's new head coach and piloted Boston to its third Cup in 1940–41. Weiland helmed the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League for the next four seasons, then coached the league's New Haven entry for two more years. In 1950 he began his longest coaching stint, at Harvard University, where he compiled a record of 315-173-17 before retiring in 1971. That year also marked his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

A member of the Beanpot Hall of Fame, Weiland was twice named coach of the year by the American Hockey Coaches Association, first in 1955, when he led the Crimson to third place in the NCAA tournament, and again in his final season, when his team captured the ECAC tournament. The New England Hockey Writers Association named Weiland its coach of the year five times and honored him with the Schaefer Pen Award for contribution to amateur hockey in 1962. He received the Lester Patrick Award for contribution to hockey in the United States in 1972.

Weiland coached seven All-Americans, including three-time first-team selection Joe Cavanagh '71 and two-time pick David Johnston '63. His players earned a total of 26 first team All-Ivy honors, highlighted by the 1956–57 team, which was made up entirely of Crimson players.

Four of Weiland's Harvard players helped the 1960 U.S. Olympic team win the gold medal in Squaw Valley. Among that group was the legendary Bill Cleary '56, who went on to assist Weiland and succeed him as head coach. Cleary served in that role for 19 seasons and as athletic director for 11. He earned the Hobey Baker Legend of College Hockey Award in 1993.

Cufflinks presented to Weiland after Owen Sound's Memorial Cup win in 1924 are part of a permanent junior hockey exhibit at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.[3]

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1921–22Seaforth HighlandersOHA-Jr.
1922–23Owen Sound Jr. GreysOHA-Jr.
1923–24Owen Sound Jr. GreysExhib.933538
1923–24Owen Sound Jr. GreysM-Cup
1924–25Minneapolis RocketsUSAHA35808
1925–26Minneapolis MillersCHL261041420
1926–27Minneapolis MillersAHA362122330
1927–28Minneapolis MillersAHA402152634
1928–29Boston BruinsNHL42117181652022
1929–30Boston BruinsNHL444330732761562
1930–31Boston BruinsNHL442513381456392
1931–32Boston BruinsNHL4614122620
1932–33Ottawa SenatorsNHL481611274
1933–34Ottawa SenatorsNHL92024
1933–34Detroit Red WingsNHL39111930692244
1934–35Detroit Red WingsNHL4813253810
1935–36Boston BruinsNHL481314271521012
1936–37Boston BruinsNHL486915630000
1937–38Boston BruinsNHL481112231630000
1938–39Boston BruinsNHL4779169120000
NHL totals 509 173 160 333 147 45 12 10 22 12

Head coaching record

NHL

TeamYearRegular seasonPost season
GWLTPtsDivision rankResult
Boston Bruins1939–40 4831125671st in NHLLost in semi-finals
Boston Bruins1940–41 4827813671st in NHLWon Stanley Cup
NHL Total96582018

College

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Harvard Crimson (Pentagonal League) (1950–1955)
1950–51 Harvard 12-11-0
1951–52 Harvard 8-11-0
1952–53 Harvard 11-5-1NCAA Consolation Game (Loss)
1953–54 Harvard 10-10-2
1954–55 Harvard 17-3-1NCAA Consolation Game (Win)
Harvard Crimson (Independent) (1955–1961)
1955–56 Harvard 15-10-0
1956–57 Harvard 21-5-0NCAA Consolation Game (Loss)
1957–58 Harvard 18-10-1NCAA Consolation Game (Loss)
1958–59 Harvard 12-9-4
1959–60 Harvard 16-7-1
1960–61 Harvard 18-4-2
Harvard: 158-85-12
Harvard Crimson (ECAC Hockey) (1961–1971)
1961–62 Harvard 21-5-018-2-02ndECAC Third-place game (Win)
1962–63 Harvard 21-3-217-3-21stECAC Tournament Champion
1963–64 Harvard 17-7-015-6-04thECAC Quarterfinals
1964–65 Harvard 9-15-07-13-011th
1965–66 Harvard 10-12-18-11-09th
1966–67 Harvard 11-12-010-11-09thECAC Quarterfinals
1967–68 Harvard 15-9-014-7-04thECAC Quarterfinals
1968–69 Harvard 19-8-116-5-03rdNCAA Consolation Game (Win)
1969–70 Harvard 16-9-014-6-04thECAC Third-place game (Loss)
1970–71 Harvard 18-8-115-5-14thNCAA Consolation Game (Loss)
Harvard: 157-88-5134-69-3
Total:315-173-17

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

[4]

References

  1. Article by Ted Briggs, Owen Sound Sun Times, March 31, 1973.
  2. "80th anniversary of the Greys' most glorious days," Jonathon Jackson, Owen Sound Sun Times, February 17, 2004, p. unknown.
  3. "http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/ind02cele4.htm Archived 2007-06-26 at the Wayback Machine"
  4. "2008-09 Harvard Crimson Media Guide" (PDF). Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
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