John Ross Roach

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 four 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.

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. 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. He is one of just ten goaltenders with four seasons of having a Goals against average under 2.00.

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.

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