Name Fred Kearney Role Ice hockey player | Died November 6, 1998 | |
Fred Kearney (May 19, 1897 – November 6, 1998) was a Canadian ice hockey player.
Born in Pembroke, Ontario, Kearney moved to Fort William in 1909. He began playing amateur hockey in Fort William amateur ranks beginning in 1913. Winning the 1924 Thunder Bay Intermediate League with the Lakehead Intermediate Hockey Team, the team then went on to challenge for the Scotland Woollen Mills trophy.
In 1927 Kearney was part of the Fort William senior hockey team, which won the Western Canadian Senior Hockey Championships. Facing the Toronto Grads in the Allan Cup finals in Vancouver, Fort William's Thundering Herd were part of the most memorable finals in the history of the competition.
From 1929 to 1931, Kearney played professional hockey for the St. Louis Flyers of the American Hockey Association. Constantly making what were referred to by his teammates and opponents as "impossible stops", he had streaks of at least three shut-outs on more than one occasion, establishing a record of 103 stops in two games.
Following a mandatory three-year waiting period, Kearney rejoined the amateur ranks as a goalie for the Fort William Senior Hockey Team, winning the Thunder Bay District League Championships in 1934, as well as the Western Canada Senior Championship.
Kearney was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame on September 26, 1998.