IMAGE INFORMATION
EditJohn Arthur "Johnny" Sorrell - Born January 16, 1904 in Chesterville, Ontario - Died November 30, 1984 in Indianapolis, Indiana was a Canadian/American ice Hockey left winger and coach.
- Prince of Wales Trophy Champion 1934, 1936, 1937 with Detroit Red Wings.
- Stanley Cup Champion 1936, 1937 with Detroit Red Wings.
Stanley Cup finalist 1934.
Calder Cup finalist 1941, 1942 with Hershey Bears.
Sorrell played all of his early Hockey in his hometown of Chesterfield. He got noticed while playing for the Chesterville Colts of the Ontario Hockey Association and showing great promise. He moved up in 1927 played forty games for the Quebec Beavers of the CAHL before being called up into the Canadian Professional Hockey League the following year for the Windsor Bulldogs.
The Montreal Canadiens had taken a liking to Sorrell and signed him. He never played a game for Montreal, but was instead traded to the London Tecumsehs of the IHL on November 5, 1929. Sorrell continued to show promise and helped the Tecumsehs to a third-place finish in the IHL.
On November 10, 1930 he was traded to the Detroit Falcons, making his NHL debut on November 13, 1930 vs New York Rangers at Detroit Olympia in a 1-0 Falcons win. Sorrell had the only assist on the goal.
Sorrell scored his 1st NHL goal vs Charlie Gardiner of Chicago Black Hawks at 18:25 of 3rd period on December 7, 1930 at v in a 3-2 Chicago win.
Sorrell played in 39 NHL games that season, then helped the Falcons reach the playoffs in 1932. He was with the team when they became the Detroit Red Wings, and is considered a "Original Red Wings Player"
In the 1936 Detroit Stanley Cup final, Sorrell had 1 assist in the championship game, and then in 1937 Stanley Cup championship game, he had 1 goal, 1 assist as Detroit won back to back Stanley Cup championships.
Sorrell played most of the next season between Detroit and Pittsburgh Hornets of the then IAHL. On February 13, 1938, Detroit traded Sorrell to the New York Americans for Hap Enns. Sorrell would finish his NHL career in 1941 in New York.
Sorrell then played in the AHL with both the Hershey Bears (1941 to 1943) and Indianapolis Capitals, turning to being a player/coach of the Indianapolis Capitals from 1943 to 1945, helping them reach back to back Calder Cup finals.
Sorrell played in 490 regular season NHL games, scoring 127 goals (25 GWG / 5 OTG), 120 assists with 100 penalty minutes and 42 NHL playoff games, scoring 12 goals (3 GWG / 1 OTG), 15 assists with 8 penalty minutes.
NOTE
Sorrell was also a top notch baseball player, a southpaw first baseman at semi-pre level during the spring and summer months.