Alf Skinner


Alfred "Dutch" Skinner was a Canadian ice hockey right winger. During his career, which lasted from 1913 to 1930 he played for several teams in the National Hockey Association, National Hockey League, and Pacific Coast Hockey Association, his longest tenure was with the Vancouver Millionaires of the PCHA. With the Toronto Arenas he won the Stanley Cup in 1918, and played for the Cup a further three times with Vancouver.

Playing career

Skinner played junior hockey for the Toronto Argonauts and the Parkdale Canoe Club and senior hockey with the Toronto Rowing Club. He turned professional in 1914 with the Toronto Shamrocks of the National Hockey Association. After one season, the team evolved into the Toronto Blueshirts. During the 1916–17 season, the league suspended operations of the Blueshirts, and Skinner finished the season with the Montreal Wanderers.
With the creation of the National Hockey League in 1917, Skinner returned to Toronto and played for the Stanley Cup-winning Toronto club, which consisted mostly of Blue Shirt players. Skinner was the star of the Cup championships, scoring eight goals in five games. The team became the Toronto Arenas in 1918.
In 1919, Skinner went west to play for Vancouver in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. The team unsuccessfully challenged for the Stanley Cup in 1921 and 1922. The 1920–21 season was Skinner's best, when he scored 20 goals in 24 games.
When the PCHA merged with the Western Canada Hockey League in 1924, Skinner returned to the NHL to play for the Boston Bruins. He was traded during the season to the Montreal Maroons and finished the year with just one goal in 27 games. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates to start the 1925–26 season, but only played seven games with the team, ending his NHL career.
In 1926–27, Skinner played in the minor professional American Hockey Association for the Duluth Hornets. For the next two seasons, he was player-coach for Kitchener in the Canadian Professional Hockey League. When that league became the International Hockey League in 1929, Skinner became player-coach for the Guelph Maple Leafs in the new Canadian Professional Hockey League. He led the team to the championship in the league's only year of operations. He retired as a player in 1930.
Outside of hockey, Skinner was an employee of the City of Toronto and served a term as president of the Spadina Men's Progressive Conservative Association. He died at age 67 at his home and was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs