Ed Chadwick, the last Maple Leaf goaltender to play every game in an entire season, who ranks 17th in both games played and wins in franchise history, d
ied this week at age 90.
The Fergus, Ont., native played for the St. Michael’s Majors before embarking on a pro career that took him to minor league stops in Pittsburgh, Sault Ste. Marie, Buffalo and Winnipeg, where he was recalled in February of 1956.
He debuted in a 1-1 tie against Montreal and won the job outright the next season. In a 70-game season when NHL clubs did not employ full-time backups, the 5-foot-11 Chadwick did not miss a minute of play in the 1956-57 and 1957-58 seasons, splitting the next year with newcomer Johnny Bower.
“Eddie was eight years younger than me, but accepted me like a long-lost brother,” the late Bower wrote in his book The China Wall. “We were rivals for a position, but there was no bitterness whatsoever. I wanted to help him any way I could and he felt the same towards me.”
In his full career, Chadwick played 180 games, winning 57 and standing 10th in team history with 10 shutouts. The Leafs missed the playoffs both years of his streak and Chadwick eventually gave way to Bower.
He was traded to Boston in 1961 for goalie Don Simmons, but played only four more NHL games for his new team before returning to the minors with Hershey and Buffalo in the AHL.
From 1982-2001, he was a scout for the Edmonton Oilers.
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