Russ Blinco

Russ Blinco (born 12 March 1908 in Grand- Mere, Quebec, † 1982) was a Canadian ice hockey player ( center ), who played from 1933 to 1939 for the Montreal Maroons and Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League.

Career

Blinco practice after three years at the Brooklyn Crescents in 1932 to the Springfield Indians in the Canadian - American Hockey League. During the course of the season, he joined the International Hockey League with the Windsor Bulldogs. As part of this transaction, the NHL rights were given to him by the New York Rangers to the Detroit Red Wings, this soon after passed it on to the Montreal Maroons. After good performances in Windsor early in the season Blinco was appointed by the Maroons during the season 1933/34, in the National Hockey League. After good performances in his NHL debut season, he was honored by the league president Frank Calder as the best rookie.

The Canadian-born showed strengths in both the offensive as well as on the defensive. He was one of the fairest athletes of his time. In the 1934/35 season he won with the Maroons the Stanley Cup. In 1937 he played at the Howie Morenz Memorial Game in a selection of players from the Maroons and Montreal Canadiens, who ran against an all-star team of six other NHL teams. Blinko was the first player in the NHL who played with a pair of glasses. His nickname was "Beaver".

For $ 30,000, he joined together with Baldy Northcott and Earl Robinson for the season 1938/39, the Chicago Blackhawks. There, he played one season before he ended his career.

Awards and achievements

Career Stats

( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )