Wilf Cude

Wilfred Reginald Cude (July 4, 1906 – May 5, 1968) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played ten seasons as a goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Quakers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, and Montreal Canadiens.

Career

Cude was born in Barry, Wales in 1906, although his birthdate has been commonly listed as being in 1910. In 1913, the family moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. After World War I broke out, the family relocated to England where his father Harry was serving with a Canadian contingent. The family returned to Canada in 1919. Harry had war injuries and the family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba for the drier climate. Wilf began playing ice hockey in Winnipeg and played for the St. Vital Saints and the Winnipeg Wellingtons in Winnipeg. Wilf was a childhood friend of Charlie Gardiner, who would also play in the National Hockey League.

In 1933, the Quakers traded Cude to the Montreal Canadiens who already had George Hainsworth as their star goaltender. Before the 1933–34 season, Hainsworth was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for similarly distinguished Lorne Chabot. Cude played one game for the Canadiens before he was loaned to the Detroit Red Wings, where he posted an outstanding campaign. He wound up leading the Red Wings to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance, though they lost to Charlie Gardiner and the Chicago Black Hawks, falling three games to one in the best-of-five series. Cude also surrendered the first overtime goal clinching a Stanley Cup when he was scored on by Mush March at the 10:05 mark of the second overtime in game four. He posted a league-leading 1.52 goals against average for the year.

The Canadiens were so impressed by Cude's work with the Red Wings that they traded Chabot and made Cude their number one goaltender through the 1937–38 season. He split duties with Claude Bourque in 1938–39 and ceded the starter job to Bourque in 1939–40, and to Bert Gardiner in 1940–41.

The Canadiens did not win a Stanley Cup during Cude's tenure as their starting goaltender. These were among the team's worst years, on the ice as well as in the state of their finances. The worst of these years, 1935–36, a year during which the Montreal Maroons were defending Stanley Cup champions, the Canadiens won 11, lost 26 and tied 11, though Cude posted six shutouts in those 11 victories.

The moment when Cude decided to retire from hockey is recorded in Stan Fischler's book The Zany World of Hockey. Before a game, Cude was eating his afternoon steak with his wife. He had a tendency to cover the steak in ketchup...when she made a remark about his playing, he threw the steak at her, missed, and it stuck to the wall. "Between the time the steak hit the wall and then hit the floor, I decided I had had enough of goaltending." Like many players, Cude was superstitious. He and his wife would drive to the rink and park the car. If Cude's team won, they would park in the same spot before the next game, until the team lost, when they would then park in a different spot.

After his playing days were over, Cude became a coach in junior hockey. He was president of the St. Laurent Intermediate League. He moved to Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec and worked for British Oil and coached junior hockey. In 1948, he became a scout for the Red Wings, and returned to coaching in 1961 as coach of the Rouyn-Noranda Alouettes. Cude died of cancer in 1968.

Awards and achievements NHL Second All-Star Team (1936 & 1937) "Honoured Member" of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame

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 1927–28 St. Vital AC MAHA — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1928–29 Winnipeg Wellingtons WSrHL — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1929–30 Melville Millionaires S-SSHL 20 13 6 1 1290 40 3 1.86 2 1 1 0 120 3 1 1.50 1930–31 Philadelphia Quakers NHL 30 2 25 3 1850 130 1 4.22 — — — — — — — — 1931–32 Boston Bruins NHL 2 1 1 0 120 6 1 3.00 — — — — — — — — 1931–32 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 1 0 0 0 41 9 0 13.17 — — — — — — — — 1931–32 Syracuse Stars IHL 1 0 0 1 70 1 0 0.86 — — — — — — — — 1931–32 Boston Cubs Can-Am 15 7 7 1 900 46 1 3.00 — — — — — — — — 1932–33 Philadelphia Arrows Can-Am 32 21 9 2 1950 64 4 1.97 5 2 3 0 300 15 1 3.00 1933–34 Montreal Canadiens NHL 1 1 0 0 60 0 1 0.00 — — — — — — — — 1933–34 Syracuse Stars IHL 19 10 7 2 1140 39 3 2.05 — — — — — — — — 1933–34 Detroit Red Wings NHL 29 15 6 8 1860 47 4 1.52 9 4 5 0 593 21 1 2.12 1934–35 Montreal Canadiens NHL 48 19 23 6 2960 145 1 2.94 2 0 1 1 120 6 0 3.00 1935–36 Montreal Canadiens NHL 47 11 26 10 2940 122 6 2.49 — — — — — — — — 1936–37 Montreal Canadiens NHL 44 22 17 5 2730 99 5 2.18 5 2 3 — 352 13 0 2.22 1937–38 Montreal Canadiens NHL 47 18 17 12 2990 126 3 2.53 3 1 2 — 192 11 0 3.44 1938–39 Montreal Canadiens NHL 23 8 11 4 1440 77 2 3.21 — — — — — — — — 1939–40 Montreal Canadiens NHL 7 1 5 1 415 24 0 3.47 — — — — — — — — 1939–40 New Haven Eagles IAHL 44 23 18 1 2690 146 3 3.26 3 1 2 — 180 11 0 3.67 1940–41 Montreal Canadiens NHL 3 2 1 0 180 13 0 4.33 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 282 100 132 49 17,586 798 24 2.72 19 7 11 1 1257 51 1 2.43