Michael Richard Roach - Born May 7, 1895 in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia – Died April 1, 1977 in Whitby, Ontario was a Canadian professional ice Hockey player.

Roach was born in Nova Scotia, but played most of his early Hockey in New England.

The first records of Roach playing Hockey is with the Boston English High and the Boston Pilgrims in 1913.

Roach then played for the Boston Arenas of the American Amateur Hockey League in 1914, where he became a goal scorer, where he totaled 14 goals in just 10 games to lead the league in scoring. He remained with the Arenas for 1915-16 season, scoring 11 goals.

Roach would then join the AAHL Brooklyn Crescents for the 1916-17 season, who played their home games at the Claremont Rink, and would score 5 goals in six games.

Roach was a Member of the AAHL First All-Star Team in 1916 and 1917.

Roach remained in New York for the 1917-18 season, only now with the Wanderers of New York of the United States Navy Hockey League where he scored another dozen goals in 10 games.

Roach was a member of the USNHL First All-Star Team in 1918.

Roach would then move north and join the Ontario Hockey Association Hamilton Tigers, and lead the league in scoring with 17 goals and 29 points in only 8 regular season games, and helping the Tigers win the Canadian amateur championship Allan Cup in 1919.

Roach was a member of the OHA-Sr. First All-Star Team in 1919.

Roach caught the attention of the Toronto St. Patricks of the National Hockey League, which was about to embark on only its third season of play. Playing a season twice as long as any he had before, Roach scored 11 goals and 13 points in 1919-20, which included Roach becoming only the fourth player in the NHL to score five goals in one game on March 6, 1920 as Toronto defeated the Quebec Bulldogs 11-2.

Roach began the 1920-21 season with the St. Patricks, but after 9 games, he was sold to the first year Hamilton Tigers of the NHL, a different Hamilton Tigers than who Roach had won the Allan Cup with in 1919.

In 1921-22, Roach, playing center, scored 14 goals and 20 points prior to setting career highs in 1922-23 with 17 goals and 27 points to lead the Tigers in scoring and finish 6th overall in the NHL.

Roach would score only 5 goals and 8 points the next season for the Tigers, but the 1924-25 Tigers would finish first overall in the NHL with a 19-10-1 record, giving Roach his first NHL playoff birth - he thought. Unfortunately for Roach their team would announce a strike for the playoffs, as they were not being paid for the extra games. The NHL suspended the Tigers, and after Montreal defeated Toronto, NHL President Frank Calder met with the Tigers management, declared the Canadiens champions of the NHL and fined the Tigers players $200 each.

The Hamilton franchise was then revoked at the September 22nd NHL league meetings, bringing an end to the Tigers franchise.

The New York Americans, a expansion club set to begin play in New York's Madison Square Garden for the 1925-26 season would purchase the rights to the Hamilton players, a would please all the players buy agreeing to pay them a higher fee for all their games played, including the playoffs.

Roach managed a mere 3 goals in the first season of the New York Americans, but rebounded in 1926-27 with 11 goals in 44 games, second on the Americans in goals for the season, which proved to be his last in the NHL.

Roach then joined the Niagara Falls Cataracts of the Canadian Professional Hockey League as a player-coach for the 1927-28 season.

Roach would then play one season with the Windsor Hornets of the CPHL before again spending a season as a player-coach, this time with the Buffalo Bisons in the same league, now renamed the International Hockey League, but with a much more limited amount of playing time, as he appeared in just 10 games. He retired for good as a player after the 1929-30 season.

Roach played 211 NHL games with 77 goals and 34 assists for 111 points