Frederick Joseph "Bun" Cook (September 18, 1903 – March 19, 1988) was a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and forward. He was an Allan Cup champion with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 1924 before embarking on a 13-year professional career. He played for the Saskatoon Crescents in the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) and the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League (NHL). Cook was a member of two Stanley Cup championship teams with the Rangers, in 1928 and 1933, playing on the "Bread Line" with his brother Bill and Frank Boucher.
Cook turned to coaching in 1937 and spent 19 years in the American Hockey League (AHL), with the Providence Reds for six seasons and the remainder with the Cleveland Barons. His 636 wins as a coach is the second most in AHL history and he led his teams to the playoffs in all but one season. Cook was named an AHL All-Star coach on six occasions, and led his teams to a record seven Calder Cup championships. He was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995 and to the AHL Hall of Fame in 2007.
He was the last surviving former player of the Saskatoon Crescents.
Early life
Frederick Joseph Cook was born September 18, 1903, in Kingston, Ontario. He was part of a large family, and the second of three brothers, following Bill and preceding Alexander ("Bud"). Despite their eight-year difference age, Bun frequently followed Bill to new teams and the pair spent most of their careers playing together. Bun joined Bill in playing senior hockey with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 1921, and while Bill had already left the team by that point, Bun was a member of the Greyhounds squad that won the Allan Cup in 1924 as senior champions of Canada. The league had run into financial difficulty in its final seasons, and after 1926, ceased operations. The Montreal Maroons intended to sign both Cook and his brother Bill to join their team for the 1926–27 NHL season. While the team's manager waited in Montreal to meet the brothers, Conn Smythe, manager of the newly formed New York Rangers, travelled to Winnipeg to reach the pair first. Smythe signed both Cook brothers for $12,000. The brothers convinced Smythe to sign Frank Boucher, who also played in the WCHL, and the trio to form the "Bread Line", one of the early NHL's most prolific scoring lines. The Rangers finished second in the American Division that season and defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Bruins to reach the 1928 Stanley Cup Final against the Maroons. The Bread Line scored every Rangers goal in the series. The 1929–30 season was statistically Cook's best in professional hockey. He finished tenth in the NHL with 24 goals and totaled 43 points in 44 games. Following a 35-point season in 1930–31, he was named to the inaugural NHL All-Star team as the second team left wing.
With 22 goals in 1932–33, Cook finished fourth in the NHL, while his 37 points were seventh best.
Cook was a consistent scorer the following two seasons as he recorded 33 points in 1933–34 and 34 points in 1934–35. He appeared in 40 games for the Bruins in 1936–37, his final NHL season, and recorded nine points. as well as a Calder Cup championship after the Reds defeated the Syracuse Stars. Following the 1938–39 season, Cook was named to the IAHL/AHL All-Star team for the first time of four consecutive seasons.
Cook left Providence to become head coach of the Cleveland Barons in 1943–44. but never left Cleveland. Cook coached the Barons to a repeat championship in 1953–54, his seventh Calder Cup victory.
Cook spent one season coaching the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Northern Ontario Hockey League, in 1956–57, then spent three seasons with the Kingston Frontenacs of the Eastern Professional Hockey League until his retirement in 1961. Cook retired as the most successful coach in AHL history. His seven Calder Cups are four more than anyone else, and his 636 career wins were the most in league history for a half-century (Roy Sommer would pass him in 2016). He was inducted into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame in 2007. Bun followed his elder brother to the prairie province and farmed an adjacent half section.