Robert Theodore Bauer (February 16, 1915 – September 16, 1964) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who was a right winger for 10 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins. He was a member of the "Kraut Line" with teammates Milt Schmidt and Woody Dumart. The trio led the Bruins to two Stanley Cup championships and became the first line to finish first, second and third in NHL scoring, in 1939–40. Bauer was named to the All-Star team four times and was a three-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy, awarded for gentlemanly conduct combined with a high calibre of play. He recorded only 36 penalties in minutes in 327 games.
Prior to his NHL career, Bauer won the Memorial Cup with the St. Michael's Majors in 1934 as junior champions of Canada. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942 and won the Allan Cup with the Ottawa RCAF Flyers as senior champions that year. Bauer turned to coaching following his NHL career and guided the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen to two Allan Cup championships. The Dutchmen were sent to represent Canada at the 1956 Winter Olympics where Bauer coached the team to a bronze medal. He also coached the Canadian entry at the 1960 Winter Olympics that won a silver medal. Bauer assisted his brother David in creating the Canadian national hockey team in the 1960s. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996.
Early life
Bauer was born on February 16, 1915, in Waterloo, Ontario. He was the second of 11 children to Edgar and Alice Bauer. His elder brother Frank was later Mayor of Waterloo and he had nine younger siblings: Eugene, Jerome, Alice, David, Raymond, Mary, Rita, Therese and Margaret. Edgar was a Knight of the Order of St. Sylvester, Waterloo city councillor and executive in the Bauer family's automotive parts business.
The Bauer children learned to play hockey in a backyard rink, In 1933–34, Bauer recorded 15 points in 13 Memorial Cup playoff games to help the Majors capture the Dominion junior championship. Bauer played his final year of junior in 1934–35 with the Kitchener Greenshirts where he first played with Milt Schmidt and Woody Dumart, who was then a defenceman.
All three players were signed by the Boston Bruins, It was with the Reds that Bauer as right wing, Schmidt at centre and Dumart, who moved up to left wing, were first placed together as a line. Owing to their shared German heritage, the trio were initially called the "Sauerkrauts" by Providence coach Albert Leduc, though the name was shortened and they were known as the "Kraut Line" for the majority of their careers.
The Kraut Line earned full-time spots in Boston beginning in 1937–38; Bauer recorded a team-leading 20 goals in his rookie season as the trio led the Bruins to the team's first of four consecutive Prince of Wales Trophy wins as the NHL's best team in the regular season. Following a 31-point regular season in 1938–39, Bauer added five points in 12 playoff games and was named to the NHL's second All-Star team. In 1939–40, Schmidt led the NHL in points with 52 while Dumart and Bauer finished second and third respectively with 43 each. It was the first time in league history that three linemates finished in the top three spots in NHL scoring. Bauer was again named a second team All-Star, and with only two penalties in minutes (PIM), won the Lady Byng Trophy for the first time. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, all three members of the Kraut Line enlisted with the Canadian military by signing up for home defence. At the same time, anti-German sentiment led to efforts to change the trio's nickname. They were briefly called the "Buddy Line" and the "Kitchener Kids", though they were again referred to as the Kraut Line following the war. In their final game with the Bruins, the Kraut Line recorded eight points in a dominating victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Following the contest, players from both teams fêted the trio, hoisting them up on their shoulders and parading them around the ice. Bauer was overwhelmed by the moment: "The ovation, at the height of my youth, sort of grabbed me." Schmidt, Dumart and Bauer were the first NHL players to join the Royal Canadian Air Force, and while training in Ottawa, they joined the Ottawa RCAF Flyers of the Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL). Bauer was sent to Halifax to continue his training and played with the Dartmouth RCAF team in 1942–43. He played with a team in Toronto until the war's conclusion. He chose to return for one additional season and was named the Bruins captain for 1946–47. He was named to a fourth All-Star team and won the Lady Byng Trophy for the third time. He also began his coaching career with the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA)'s Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters and, late in the 1947–48 season, joined the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen in the OHA senior division.
Ending his playing career, Bauer became coach, general manager and president of the Dutchmen in 1952. However, the team was shocked by the American entry, a 4–1 loss. Though they still had a chance at gold due to the round robin format of the tournament, the Dutchmen were defeated by the Soviet Union – at the time a relatively unknown and emerging hockey power – by a 2–0 score despite outshooting the Soviets 23–9. Canada was relegated to the bronze medal, at the time the worst finish in the nation's Olympic hockey history.
Bauer retired as a coach following the Olympics. The Canadians lost only one game in the tournament, to the United States. The final game of the tournament had been scheduled between Canada and the Soviet Union as it was expected to be the gold medal match-up. However, the Americans won all of their games. Consequently, the match determined the silver medal, which Canada claimed with an 8–5 victory.
Personal life
Bauer partnered in a Guelph-based electronics company and resided in Kitchener with his wife Marguerite and sons Bobby Jr., and Bradley. Bobby assisted his brother's efforts in creating the team by sharing his coaching knowledge and helping to formulate how the team was to be formed. The first national team played at the 1964 Winter Olympics where it finished a controversial fourth.
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|Stanley Cup champion
|1939, 1941
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| Lady Byng Trophy
| 1940, 1941, 1947
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|NHL All-Star Game
|1947
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|Hockey Hall of Fame
|1996
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! colspan="3" |Boston Bruins
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|Named One of Top 100 Best Bruins Players of all Time
|2024
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|Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy
|1942
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! colspan="3" |Ottawa RCAF Flyers
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|Allan Cup champion
|1942
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