James John "Jimmy" Foster - Born September 13, 1905 in the Possil area of Glasgow, Scotland – Died January 4, 1969 in Winnipeg, Manitoba was a Scottish-born Canadian goaltender.

- Turnbull Memorial Trophy / Turnbull Cup Champion 1925 with University of Manitoba Bisons

- Pattinson Trophy (Pattison Cup) Champion 1927 with Winnipeg Winnipegs and 1930 with Elmwood Millionaires.

- Allan Cup Champion 1933 and 1934 with Moncton Hawks.

- English National League / ENL Champion 1939 with Harringay Greyhounds.
- London Cup Champion 1939 with Harringay Greyhounds.

- 1936 Winter Olympics Gold Medal Champion with Great Britain Hockey Team.
- World Ice Hockey Champion 1936 with Great Britain Hockey Team.
- European Ice Hockey Champion 1936, 1937, 1938 with Great Britain Hockey Team.

1st team to win Olympics, World and European Ice Hockey championships in same year - 1936.

- 1937 and 1938 World Ice Hockey Championships Silver Medal Winner.

His father was a Foreman Blacksmith, and the Foster family emigrated to Canada when Jimmy was aged six. He grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Foster first rose to prominence as a Hockey player in the Winnipeg Junior Hockey League in the early 1920s. With the Winnipeg Argonauts, and later the University of Manitoba,

His team won the Manitoba Junior Provincial Championship in 1925, and he was a two-time winner of the Senior Manitoba Championship - in 1927 with the Winnipeg Winnipegs and in 1930 with the Elmwood Millionaires.

In 1931, he joined the Moncton Hawks of the Maritime Senior Hockey League, a team which he led to the Allan Cup finals in 1932.

As a Hawk in the 1932 Allan Cup finals, he posted the first ever back-to-back clean sheets in the competition and went a staggering 417 minutes without conceding a goal. With Jimmy Foster between the pipes, the Hawks went on to claim the Allan Cup in 1933 and 1934 and in those three seasons, he played all but one of 220 games.

Foster was to earn a reputation as one of the finest goaltenders outside of the NHL / National Hockey League with superb statistics and a considerable number of shutouts at both domestic and international level.

In 1935, along with the coach of the Moncton Hawks and Foster's longtime mentor, Percy Nicklin, Foster moved to London to play for the Richmond Hawks, where he backstopped them to the runners-up spot in the English National League, although tied on points with the winners, the Wembley Lions and earned himself an All Star A-team selection. He moved the following season to join the Harringay Greyhounds where he stayed for three seasons including a league title and London Cup victory in 1939 and an All Star B-team award. In his five seasons in British domestic Hockey, Jimmy Foster recorded an impressive 24 shutouts.

In the 1936 Winter Olympics, Foster represented Great Britain in ice Hockey. Foster, along with eight other British born players who had learned their Hockey in Canada, a Canadian born British resident and two British natives, helped to lead Great Britain to its first and only Olympic gold medal in ice Hockey, narrowly beating out Canada. In seven games, Foster allowed only three goals, recording four shutouts.. For sixty years, Foster was the only Scot to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association suspended Foster and teammate Alexander Archer for "leaving the dominion without permission" to play in England. The International Ice Hockey Federation upheld the decision and the pair were only cleared to play in the Olympics when the Canadians waived the suspensions for the duration of the games in "the interest of Olympic spirit."

Foster appeared in 31 World Championship games posting an amazing 16 shutouts and as well as the Olympics, he helped Great Britain to the European Championship successes of 1937 & 1938.

Foster returned to Canada in 1940 to work in an aircraft factory. He later played for the Glace Bay Miners and the Quebec Aces.

James Foster was inducted into the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950

Jimmy Foster is a “Honoured Member” of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, inducted in 1992.

Jimmy Foster was posthumously inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2023.

NOTE
Jimmy Foster played in 29 games at the Olympics and World Championships in the 1930s, winning Winter Olympic Gold in 1936 and two silver medals at the World Ice Hockey Championships. No other goalie outside the “top six” Hockey nations has ever won as many medals in international play. He allowed only 22 goals and recorded a combined 16 shutouts, more than any other goalie in IIHF history. During the period 1936-39, no other goalie played for Great Britain in IIHF competition, and he lost only five games, three of which were against Canada. In four of those five losses, Great Britain failed to score a goal.