68 Facts About Lionel Conacher

Lionel Conacher's first passion was Canadian football; he was a member of the 1921 Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts.

Lionel Conacher was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team that won the International League championship in 1926.

Lionel Conacher is one of three players, including Joe Miller and Carl Voss, to have their names engraved on both the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup.

Lionel Conacher won election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1937, and in 1949 won a seat in the House of Commons.

Lionel Conacher worked to eliminate corruption in boxing while serving as a member of provincial parliament in Ontario, serving as the chairman of the Ontario Athletic Commission.

Lionel Conacher was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1955, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1964, the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1965, the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

Lionel Conacher was born in Toronto, Ontario, on May 24,1900.

Lionel Conacher was the eldest son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Conacher, and the third of ten children overall.

Lionel Conacher's father was a teamster, and struggled to earn enough money to support the family.

Lionel Conacher left school after the eighth grade to go to work and help support his siblings.

Lionel Conacher discovered that he was among the better players in any sport he tried, and quickly became a star at Canadian football, ice hockey and lacrosse.

Lionel Conacher realized his athletic ability could offer an escape from poverty.

Lionel Conacher was a prolific athlete, excelling in numerous sports at the same time.

Lionel Conacher played with 14 different teams during his teenage years, winning 11 championships.

Lionel Conacher was 16 years old when he won the Ontario lightweight wrestling championship, and at 20 won the Canadian amateur light-heavyweight boxing championship.

Lionel Conacher scored four goals and an assist to lead them to a comeback victory.

Rugby football was the first sport Lionel Conacher played, and it was his favourite.

Lionel Conacher first played organized football at the age of 12 as a middle wing with the Capitals in the Toronto Rugby Football League.

Lionel Conacher played four seasons with the team between 1912 and 1915, during which the Capitals won the city championship each year.

Lionel Conacher won the Ontario championship as a junior with the Toronto Central YMCA in 1918, and in 1919 moved up to the intermediate level.

Lionel Conacher excelled in the role, and his team reached Ontario Rugby Football Union final.

Lionel Conacher moved to the senior level in 1920 with the Toronto Rugby Club where his team again won the ORFU championship, but lost the eastern semifinal to the Toronto Argonauts of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union.

Lionel Conacher's play impressed the Argonauts, who signed him for the 1921 season.

In that game, Lionel Conacher was the entire Argonaut offense rushing 35 times for 227 yards but Pep Leadley's 21-yard field goal towards the end of the game gave Queens' its victory.

Lionel Conacher did not learn to skate until he was 16.

Lionel Conacher played with the Toronto Century Rovers, and then the Aura Lee Athletic Club, but saw limited ice time.

Lionel Conacher then returned to the Aura Lees to play for their senior team for two years.

Lionel Conacher turned both down as he was not yet willing to surrender his status as an amateur athlete.

Lionel Conacher remained in senior hockey and while playing for the North Toronto Seniors in 1923, was a part of the first hockey game ever broadcast on radio.

Lionel Conacher brought many of his teammates with him to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, all of whom received jobs in the community, and he attended school at Bellefonte Academy for a year before enrolling at Duquesne University.

Lionel Conacher played football for both schools in the fall, and served as the Yellow Jackets' captain in the winter where he led the team to consecutive USAHA titles in 1924 and 1925.

Lionel Conacher finally chose to turn professional with the team, a decision that surprised fans and teammates in Toronto, who knew of his favouritism for the game of football.

Lionel Conacher scored the first goal in Pirates history on American Thanksgiving Day Thursday November 26,1925, against the Boston Bruins.

Two events in that off-season saved Lionel Conacher: he swore off alcohol completely upon the birth of his first child, and his playing rights were sold to the Montreal Maroons.

Lionel Conacher periodically struggled with Montreal, and at one point was placed on waivers with no other team willing to take over his contract.

Lionel Conacher was named to the second All-Star team that season, but was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks in exchange for Teddy Graham.

Lionel Conacher was a key figure in the club's first-ever Stanley Cup victory that season.

Lionel Conacher finished second to the Canadiens' Aurel Joliat in the voting for the Hart Trophy and earned a spot on the NHL's first All-Star team.

On Wednesday October 3,1934, Lionel Conacher was involved in one of the largest transactions in league history.

Lionel Conacher was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, along with Leroy Goldsworthy and Roger Jenkins in exchange for Montreal superstar Howie Morenz, Lorne Chabot and Marty Burke.

Immediately following the Chicago trade, Lionel Conacher was sent back to the Maroons, along with Herb Cain, in exchange for the rights to Nelson Crutchfield.

Lionel Conacher spent his last three NHL seasons with the Maroons and won his second Stanley Cup in 1935.

Lionel Conacher ended his hockey career after the team was eliminated from the playoffs by the New York Rangers on April 23,1937.

Lionel Conacher was not absent the game long as Conacher returned to football in 1933.

Lionel Conacher was part of an effort to launch a new professional league that would feature both Canadian and American teams.

The league never came to fruition, but Lionel Conacher organized what became the first professional football team in Canada.

Lionel Conacher captained the team, based out of Toronto, which was known as the Crosse and Blackwell Chefs following a sponsorship with a local food products company.

Lionel Conacher recruited former amateur players who had likewise left the sport in favour of paying jobs in other pro sports, including his brother Charlie.

Lionel Conacher was again the star, rushing for two touchdowns and scoring 13 of his team's points.

Lionel Conacher organized the team for a second year in 1934, known as the Wrigley Aromints due to new sponsorship, and again played an exhibition schedule as the team remained unaffiliated with any league.

However, at the age of 34 years, Lionel Conacher found that the game was too hard on his body physically, and neither he nor his team returned for a third season.

Several NHL players who had played the field game before abandoning it to turn professional in hockey signed with the teams, including Lionel Conacher, who joined the Maroons.

Lionel Conacher scored six of Montreal's goals, assisted on the seventh, and earned the praise of his fellow players.

The Maroons did not figure into the playoff for the championship, but Lionel Conacher led the league in scoring with 107 points.

Lionel Conacher chose not to return to lacrosse for the 1932 season, choosing instead to sign a contract to wrestle professionally during the hockey off-seasons.

When Lionel Conacher retired from professional hockey, he ran as a Liberal in the 1937 Ontario general election.

Lionel Conacher was elected as a Member of Provincial Parliament representing the Toronto Bracondale electoral district in the Ontario Legislative Assembly, defeating the district's incumbent, Conservative Arthur Russell Nesbitt.

Lionel Conacher represented Bracondale from October 6,1937, until June 30,1943, when the Legislature was dissolved for the 1943 Ontario general election.

Lionel Conacher was challenged for the Liberal nomination in Bracondale by Toronto city alderman E C Bogart.

Lionel Conacher served as the sports director for the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.

Lionel Conacher ran again in Trinity for the Liberals in the 1949 Canadian general election, and this time he was elected.

Lionel Conacher was re-elected for a final time in the 1953 election.

Lionel Conacher stood, breathing heavily and then collapsed face-first from having been hit in the head with a pitch in an earlier inning.

The next day Lionel Conacher was supposed to attend his daughter's graduation from the University of Toronto.

Lionel Conacher was buried at St Johns York Mills Anglican Church Cemetery in Toronto.

Lionel Conacher was named Canada's Greatest Male Athlete of the Half-Century.

Lionel Conacher is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and Hockey Hall of Fame.

Former NHL player Cory Conacher is a distant relative of Lionel's.