Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) Position Defence | Shot Right Name Joe Nolan | |
Born March 21, 1929Sault Ste. Marie, ON, CAN ( 1929-03-21 ) Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb) Played for Johnstown JetsClinton CometsLouisville Shooting StarsToledo Mercurys | ||
Joe Nolan (March 21, 1929 – 1986) was an ice hockey defenceman whose career spanned six seasons across two leagues.
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Playing career
Nolan would start the 1955-56 season as a member of the Clinton Comets. On November 7, 1955, Nolan was signed by the Clinton Comets after defenceman Jim Johnson was waived from the team. Nolan would finish the season leading the league in penalty minutes with 352 PIMs. Nolan's 352 PIMs were a league record and also marked the first time that a player accumulated over 300 penalty minutes in a season. Nolan's staggering penalty minutes gave him an unofficial reward for most individual penalty minutes in a season, which he won back to back years in 1955-1956 and 1956-1957.
On December 12, 1956, Nolan was released from the Clinton Comets. At the time, Nolan led the league in penalty minutes. Upon his release, Nolan was signed by the Johnstown Jets which he then only play five playoff games before retiring.
Acting career
Nolan would retire from hockey in 1956, but would return to Johnstown, Pennsylvania two decades later in a minor role for the movie Slap Shot.
Nolan would assume the role of Clarence "Screaming Buffalo" Swamptown, a player who Chiefs players thought "was suspended forever" until he was introduced at the Federal League championship game. In real life, Nolan was suspended for life for gambling.
Personal
Nolan was a full blood Ojibwa Indian. He came from a large family of four brothers and five sisters , the son of Clement and Veronica Nolan.
Upon retiring from the EHL, Nolan returned to Clinton, New York to reside, but eventually came back to the Eastern Hockey League as a linesman who was respected by players Nolan would continue to reside there until his death in 1986.