LIONEL CONACHER

'Lionel Pretoria Conacher' (May 24, 1900 – May 26, 1954), nicknamed 'The Big Train', was Canada's top all-around athlete in the 1920s, excelling in Canadian football, ice hockey, lacrosse, baseball, boxing and wrestling. He later became a politician and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the Canadian House of Commons.
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Conacher played for the Toronto Argonauts, and was part of the 1921 Grey Cup winning team. From 1925 to 1937, he played in the National Hockey League with the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Americans, Chicago Blackhawks, and Montreal Maroons.
Conacher was a Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for the Toronto riding of Bracondale, from October 6, 1937 until June 30, 1943. He was elected in 1949 as a Liberal Member of Parliament in the Toronto riding of Trinity and re-elected in 1953.
On May 26, 1954, Conacher was playing softball when he suddenly suffered a heart attack and died. He was named Canada's Greatest Male Athlete of the Half-Century (1950). He is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame (1955), the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (1955), the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1966), and Hockey Hall of Fame (1994). The award for the Canadian Press Canadian male athlete of the year is called the Lionel Conacher Award.
His son, Brian Conacher, played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League winning the Stanley Cup in 1967.

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See also

External links

See also

★ Notable families in the NHL

External links

★ Argonauts Hall of Famers

★ Professional Football Researchers Association article

★ Find-A-Grave profile for Lionel Conacher

★ Lionel Conacher at Legends of Hockey

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