Syl Apps

For his son, the ice hockey player born in 1947, see Syl Apps, Jr.
Syl Apps
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1961
Born (1915-01-18)January 18, 1915
Paris, ON, CAN
Died December 24, 1998(1998-12-24) (aged 83)
Kingston, ON, CAN
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 19361948
Syl Apps
Medal record
Men's athletics
British Empire Games
1934 London Pole vault

Charles Joseph Sylvanus Apps, CM (January 18, 1915 December 24, 1998) of Paris, Ontario,[1] was a Canadian pole vaulter and professional hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1936 to 1948 and a Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario. Apps died of a heart attack on Christmas Eve of 1998.

Athletic career

Syl Apps, against all five Chicago Black Hawks players

Apps was a strong athlete, six feet tall, weighing 185 pounds, and won the gold medal at the 1934 British Empire Games in the pole vault competition. Two years later he represented Canada at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he placed sixth in the pole vault event. After watching him play football at McMaster University, Conn Smythe signed Apps to play hockey with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Apps played centre position with the Toronto Maple Leafs for his entire professional hockey career. His jersey number was 10. He was the winner of the first Calder Trophy in 1937, and the 1942 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. Apps served as the Maple Leafs captain during the first National Hockey League All-Star Game October 13, 1947, at Maple Leaf Gardens. He also played for an all-star team competing in Montreal on October 29, 1939, to raise money for Babe Siebert's family.

Apps was in the prime of his career when he joined the Canadian Army during World War II at the end of the 1943 season. He served two years until the war was over, whereupon he returned to captain the Leafs, winning 2 more Stanley Cups in 1947 and 1948.[2]

Apps retired from the NHL at the age of 33 and took a marketing job with the Simpson's department store. At the same time, he also served as the Ontario Athletic Commissioner.

Politics

Charles Joseph Sylvanus "Syl" Apps
CM
Member of the Ontario Parliament
for Kingston (1963-1967)
Kingston and the Islands (1967-1975)
In office
1962–1975
Personal details
Nationality Canadian
Political party Progressive Conservative

While still playing hockey, Apps ran for parliament in the 1940 federal election. He was a candidate in the riding of Brant for the National Government Party but lost to incumbent George Ernest Wood of the Liberals by 138 votes.

Apps was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1963 to 1975. He represented the riding of Kingston from 1963 to 1967 and Kingston and the Islands from 1967 to 1975. He served as the Minister of Correctional Services from 1971 to 1974.

Death

Apps died of a heart attack on December 24, 1998. On that morning, Apps was lying down in bed when he was struck with chest pains and fell unconscious. He was rushed to the Kingston General Hospital, where he later died. Apps was buried in Mountview Cemetery in Cambridge, Ontario. After his death, the Maple Leafs honoured his jersey number and George Armstrong's number, who both wore the number 10. Their numbers were not retired, as the Maple Leafs have a policy of only retiring numbers for players "who have made a significant contribution to the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and have experienced a career-ending incident while a member of the Maple Leaf team".

Honours

In 1975 he was elected to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and two years later Apps was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

Several institutions are named for him, including the Syl and Molly Apps Research Centre in Kingston, Ontario, and the Syl Apps Youth Centre in Oakville, Ontario. The sports arena in his home town of Paris is named the Syl Apps Community Centre.

In 1997, Syl Apps was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.[3] Unveiled by the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame on January 13, 1998, the Syl Apps Award is emblematic of Ontario's Athlete of the Year.[4]

In 2001, Canada Post included Apps in a series of NHL All-Star 47-cent postage stamps.

Family

His son Syl Apps, Jr. also played in the NHL. His granddaughter Gillian Apps won the Gold medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics, the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the 2014 Winter Olympics for Canada's Women's Ice Hockey Team, and his grandson Syl Apps III was a college hockey star at Princeton University and played four years in the minor leagues. His grandson Darren Barber won a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the Men's 8 in rowing.

NHL awards and achievements

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1930–31Paris GreenOHA-Jr.75160
1935–36Hamilton TigersOHA-Sr.19221638109127194
1935–36Toronto DominionsOHA-Sr.10110
1935–36Hamilton TigersA-Cup45492
1936–37Toronto Maple LeafsNHL481629451020110
1937–38Toronto Maple LeafsNHL47212950971450
1938–39Toronto Maple LeafsNHL441525404102682
1939–40Toronto Maple LeafsNHL271317305105272
1940–41Toronto Maple LeafsNHL41202444653252
1941–42Toronto Maple LeafsNHL3818234101359142
1942–43Toronto Maple LeafsNHL292317402
1945–46Toronto Maple LeafsNHL402416402
1946–47Toronto Maple LeafsNHL542524496115160
1947–48Toronto Maple LeafsNHL552627531294480
NHL totals 423 201 231 432 56 67 25 29 54 14

See also

References

  1. Cole, Stephen (2006). The Canadian Hockey Atlas. Doubleday Canada. ISBN 978-0-385-66093-8.
  2. http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p196101&page=bio&list=ByYear#photo
  3. "Syl Apps". Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  4. "Syl Apps Athlete of the Year Award". http://oshof.ca/. Retrieved 24 September 2014. External link in |website= (help)

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Red Horner
Toronto Maple Leafs captain
194043
Succeeded by
Bob Davidson
Preceded by
Bob Davidson
Toronto Maple Leafs captain
194548
Succeeded by
Ted Kennedy
Awards
Preceded by
Rookie of the Year
Mike Karakas
Winner of the Calder Trophy
1937
Succeeded by
Cully Dahlstrom
Preceded by
Bobby Bauer
Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy
1942
Succeeded by
Max Bentley
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Preceded by
William McAdam Nickle
MPP for Kingston
1963–1967
Succeeded by
Riding abolished
Preceded by
riding created
MPP for Kingston and the Islands
1967–1975
Succeeded by
Keith Norton
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