IMAGE INFORMATION
EditFrank Corbett "The Flash" Foyston - Born February 2, 1891 in Minesing, Ontario – Died January 19, 1966 in Seattle, Washington was a Canadian ice Hockey. left winger/centre/rover and coach.
Foyston learned to play Hockey with his 6 brothers on the frozen ponds of his family farm and the Princess Rink in Minesing.
His first team was the Minesing Greenshirts in 1906, and would play his first junior Hockey with Ontario Hockey Association / OHA Barrie Athletic Club "Barrie Colts" in the 1909-10 season, scoring 17 goals his first season, becoming a star in Barrie. Foyston played 3 seasons for the Colts, including 1 season with their OHA senior team in the 1910-11 season, scoring 14 goals. Foyston's brother Harry, once told a story about Franks travelling to Barrie from Minesing, (20 minute drive in todays time) "By horse-drawn cutter, a trip that would take over a hour in the bitter winter snowstorms"
Foyston then joined the Eaton Athletic Association in the senior OHA for 1911-12 season. The "Toronto Eatonias" (Toronto Eatons) played in the Toronto Metro Hockey League. Foyston helped the Eatonias win the OHA 1911-12 senior championship, and being awarded the 1912 J. Ross Robertson Cup (senior). The Eaton's also played a 2 game Allan Cup challenge , losing to the Winnipeg Victorias in the spring of 1912. Foyston scored 15 goals for the Eaton's team during the regular season and 5 goals in 4 playoff games.
Foyston was now known as a exceptional scorer and playmaker, a supreme natural talent that could play at all forward positions.
The Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey Association / NHA signed him for the 1912-13 season. He scored 8 goals in 16 games as a first year professional.
Foyston soon formed a potent forward line with the talented Scotty Davidson and Jack Walker on the Blueshirts, scoring 16 goals during the 1913-14 season, and 1 goal in 2 playoff games to help the Blueshirts win the 1914 O'Brien Trophy as NHA champions. Then in the 1914 Stanley Cup championship series vs the Victoria Cougars, Foyston scored two goals, including the decisive goal in the 2-1 Cup-clinching victory.
Foyston had another strong season with Toronto during the 1914-15 season, scoring 13 goals, 9 assists in a 20 game season.
The Seattle Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association / PCHA were able to lure "Frank the Flash" to the American West Coast at the beginning of the 1915-16 season. Foyston scored just 9 goals (4 assists) in his first season in Seattle.
The following season, he had 36 goals and 12 assists in 24 games. The Metropolitans won the 1917 PCHA championship, and then played in the 1917 Stanley Cup Finals vs the Montreal Canadiens. Foyston had 7 goals and 3 assists to help the Metropolitans win the Stanley Cup in four games.
It was the first time an American team had won the Stanley Cup.
At the end of the season, Foyston was voted the right wing position on the PCHA First All-Star Team, and was also voted as league MVP.
Foyston played only 13 games in 1917-18 season, scoring 9 goals, 4 assists. Seattle lost in the PCHA final to Vancouver Millionaires 3-2.
Foyston was a big reason why the Metropolitans reached the 1919 Stanley Cup finals. During the regular season, Foyston only scored 15 goals in 18 games, but once the 1919 playoffs started, Foyston picked up his game, scoring 3 goals in 2 PCHA playoff games, helping them win the championship, and then the crafty forward scored an incredible 9 goals (4 assists) in a rematch with the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup championship series. Foyston had a hat-trick (3 goals) in game 1, 1 goal in game 2 , 4 goals in game 3 and 1 goal in game 5. Game 4 was a 0-0 tie.
The sixth and deciding game of the series was scheduled for April 1, but an outbreak of influenza caused several players on both teams to become seriously ill. With Lalonde, Hall, Coutu, Berlinguette, and McDonald of Montreal hospitalized or sick in bed, with fevers between 101 and 105 degrees Fahrenheit, game six was cancelled just five and a half hours before it was scheduled to start. Kennedy said he was forfeiting the Stanley Cup to Seattle, but Pete Muldoon, manager-coach of the Metropolitans, refused to accept the Stanley Cup in a forfeiture, seeing that it was catastrophic illness that had caused the Canadiens lineup to be short of players. Four days later, Joe Hall died of pneumonia brought about by the flu.
No official Stanley Cup winner was declared in 1919, the only time in the history of Stanley Cup play.
The following season, in 1919–20, Foyston scored 26 goals in 22 regular season games for Seattle and 3 goals in 2 playoff games in the PCHA final, as Seattle advanced to the 1920 Stanley Cup Finals vs the Ottawa Senators. In the Finals, the first 3 games were played at Mutual Street Arena, and the puck was dropped for the first game of the series by Stanley Cup trustee William Foran to the centres Frank Nighbor and Frank Foyston, both of whom scored 2 goals each in the game. Ottawa won the best of 5 series 3-2, with Foyston scoring 6 goals, 1 assist during the 5 games.
Foyston played 4 more seasons in Seattle, and was a marquee player in the PCHA, twice leading the league in goals scored and helping the Metropolitans finish 1st 5 times. His versatility was proven by his selection in various years to the PCHA First All-Star Team at three positions - left wing, centre and rover.
Foyston holds the record for most games played for the Metropolitans with 202 (and 12 playoff games), and finished 4th in all time scoring in the PCHA with 186 goals and 61 assists (247 points).
After the 1923-24 season, the owners of the newly built Olympic Hotel told the University that they needed the Seattle Ice Arena as a parking garage. The UW bought out the final year on the team's lease, sending the franchise's leadership scrambling to secure funding to build a new arena. When it became apparent they would not succeed, the Metropolitans folded with the core of the team joining other teams in Vancouver and Victoria who had joined the Western Canada Hockey League / WCHL for the 1924-1925 season.
Foyston signed with the Victoria Cougars on November 10, 1924, scoring just 6 goals (5 assists) in the regular season. The Cougars won the 1925 WCHL playoff championship and played the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup finals at the Denman Arena in Vancouver. Foyston scored just 1 goal in the series (game 4), and his play helped the Cougars win the 1925 Stanley Cup championship.
Foyston then missed the majority of the 1925-26 season after announcing his retirement, October 25, 1925, but resumed his playing career, January, 1926, helping the Cougars win the now Western Hockey League / WHL championship scoring 2 goals, and reaching the 1926 Stanley Cup finals vs the Montreal Maroons. Foyston went scoreless in the finals, as the Maroons won the championship.
The WHL dissolved after the season. That spring, a group of businessmen from Detroit won an NHL expansion franchise and bought the rights to many of the players from the Stanley Cup finalist Cougars, including Foyston. The new NHL franchise would retain the nickname "Cougars" in tribute. The Detroit Cougars would later be renamed the Detroit Falcons, and would ultimately be renamed the Detroit Red Wings.
The Cougars were the last non-NHL team to host the Stanley Cup as well as the last west coast team to win the Cup until the Anaheim Ducks won the Cup in 2007.
Foyston made his NHL debut with the Detroit Cougars on November 18, 1926 vs the Boston Bruins at Border Cities Arena in 2-0 Bruins win and scored his 1st NHL goal vs Jake Forbes of the New York Americans on November 27, 1926 at 12:30 of the 2nd period at Border Cities Arena in a 4-2 Detroit win.
Foyston scored 17 goals, 7 assists in just under two NHL seasons (64 games) before being named playing coach of the Detroit Olympics in the Canadian Professional Hockey League / Can-Pro, October 11, 1927, scoring 3 goals, 2 assists in 19 games for the Olympics. He had 24 points (18 goals) in 42 regular season games the next year, and led the team to a 27-10-5 record.
The Detroit Olympics joined the International Hockey League / IHL for the 1929-30 season, where Foyston played his final 31 games of his career, scoring 2 goals, 1 assist.
Foyston then coached the Syracuse Stars for their first season in the IHL - 1930-31, and in 1931–32, he coached the Can-Am Bronx Tigers.
Foyston then coached the Seattle Seahawks of the North West Hockey League / NWHL for the next few years. In 1934–35, he led the Seahawks to a 20-9-3 record and a first-place finish, but the team lost in the playoffs, and then as coach and manager, he led the Seahawks to the 1936 NWHL championship.
Foyston coached the Seahawks for one final season, which now played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League / PCHL in the 1936-37 season.
Foyston was considered an offensive magician and star attraction wherever he played. One of the greatest talents of his time, as a pro, scoring 263 regular-season goals and 37 more in the playoffs.
Foyston was the 1st player, and is one of 11 players who have won Stanley Cups with three or more different franchises.
Frank Foyston was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.
Frank Foyston was inducted into the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.
Frank C. Foyston was inducted into the Barrie Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.
Frank Foyston was inducted into the Springwater Sports Heritage Hall of Fame in 2014.