Olympic medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Men's Ice Hockey | ||
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen | Team |
James "Jimmy" Foster (September 13, 1905 – January 4, 1969) was a Scottish-born Canadian goaltender. Born in Glasgow, Foster emigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1912. He is best known for his role in leading Great Britain to its only Olympic gold medal in ice hockey.
Foster first rose to prominence as a hockey player in the Winnipeg Junior Hockey League in the early 1920s. With the Winnipeg Argonauts, and later the University of Manitoba, Foster earned a reputation as "the world's finest goaltender." [1] His team won the Manitoba Junior Provincial Championship in 1925, and he was a two-time winner of the Manitoba Championship - in 1927 with the Winnipeg Winnipegs and in 1930 with the Elmwood Millionaires. Around this time, he suffered a broken leg and had to briefly leave hockey. In 1931, he joined the Moncton Hawks of the Maritime Senior Hockey League, a team which he led to the Allan Cup finals in 1932. Foster went an astounding 417 minutes without allowing a goal. He also led the Hawks to victories in the Allan Cup in 1933 and 1934, and during his three seasons with the team, he missed only one game [2].
In 1935, along with the coach of the Moncton Hawks and Foster's longtime mentor, Percy Nicklin, Foster moved to London to play for the Richmond Hawks. He was selected to the All-Star team, and his new Hawks finished in a tie for first in the league. The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association suspended Foster and teammate Alexander Archer for "leaving the dominion without permission" to play in England. The International Ice Hockey Federation upheld the decision and the pair were only cleared to play in the Olympics when the Canadians waived the suspensions for the duration of the games.