Thomas Patrick Gorman (June 9, 1886 – May 15, 1961), known as "T.P." or "Tommy", was a Canadian ice hockey executive, sports entrepreneur and athlete. Gorman was a founder of the National Hockey League (NHL), won the Stanley Cup seven times as a general manager with four teams, and an Olympic gold medal-winning lacrosse player for Canada.

Early years

Gorman was born in Ottawa, Ontario. He was one of six children born to Thomas Patrick Gorman and Mary K Gorman (née MacDonald). He was a parliamentary page boy as a youth, but sports were his love. He was the youngest member of the Canadian lacrosse team that won the gold medal (only two teams competed) at the 1908 Summer Olympics. He then played professionally for a number of seasons. Gorman became a sports writer at the Ottawa Citizen, eventually becoming the sports editor. He worked at the newspaper until 1921. He was the last living founder of the NHL. He has been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (1963), the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame (1966), and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (1977).

Coaching record

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2" | Team !! rowspan="2" | Year !! colspan="6" | Regular season !! colspan="1" | Postseason

|-

! G !! W !! L !! T !! Pts !! Division rank !! Result

|-

! New York Americans

| 1925–26

| 36 || 12 || 20 || 4 || 28

| 4th in NHL || Did not qualify

|-

! New York Americans

| 1928–29

| 44 || 19 || 13 || 12 || 50

| 2nd in Canadian || Lost in quarter-finals

|-

! Chicago Black Hawks

| 1932–33

| 25 || 8 || 11 || 6 || 22

| 4th in American || Did not qualify

|-

! Chicago Black Hawks

| 1933–34

| 48 || 20 || 17 || 11 || 51

| 2nd in American || Won Stanley Cup

|-

! Montreal Maroons

| 1934–35

| 48 || 24 || 19 || 5 || 53

| 2nd in Canadian || Won Stanley Cup

|-

! Montreal Maroons

| 1935–36

| 48 || 22 || 16 || 10 || 54

| 1st in Canadian || Lost in semi-finals

|-

! Montreal Maroons

| 1936–37

| 48 || 22 || 17 || 9 || 53

| 2nd in Canadian || Lost in semi-finals

|-

! Montreal Maroons

| 1937–38

| 30 || 6 || 19 || 5 || 17

| 4th in Canadian || Did not qualify

|-

! colspan="2" | NHL totals

| 327 || 133 || 132 || 62 || 328 || 1 division title || 2 Stanley Cup wins

|}

Family

Gorman was married in 1910 to Mary Westwick, sister of Rat Westwick, one of the "Silver Seven", and was an uncle to Bill Westwick. They had two daughters and two sons.

After Gorman returned to Ottawa, he and his sons operated the Ottawa Auditorium and Connaught Park. After Gorman's death from cancer in 1961, his sons continued to operate the Auditorium until its demolition in 1967 and Connaught until 1984.

References

  • T.P. (Tommy) Gorman at the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame