In a somber announcement from the Toronto Maple Leafs, former goaltender Ed Chadwick has passed away at the age of 90. Chadwick is most famous for playing in 140 consecutive regular season games for the Maple Leafs, starting in all 70 games in each of the 1956-57 and 1957-58 seasons.
Chadwick originally started his professional career with Toronto as a backup for Harry Lumley. After Lumley was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks and subsequently sent down to the minor leagues, Chadwick became the full-time starter for the Maple Leafs over the next two years.
Unfortunately, Toronto did not qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs in either year with Chadwick between the pipes, and would later lose his position as the team’s top netminder after the organization acquired goaltender Johnny Bower in the Inter-League Draft. After ceding the net fully to Bower ahead of the 1959-60 NHL season, Chadwick would only play four more games for the Maple Leafs before being demoted to the Rochester Americans.
His playing career was not finished, however, as Chadwick was traded to the Boston Bruins ahead of the 1961-62 season and managed four games with his new organization. When everything was all said and done, Chadwick finished with a 57-92-35 record over 184 games played, earning a career .901 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average.
Although he was not able to capture the Stanley Cup during his playing career, Chadwick has five Stanley Cup rings to his name, earning them all as a scout with the Edmonton Oilers in the mid-to-late 1980s. In fact, Chadwick has had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup a total of three times as a member of the Oilers organization, coming in 1985, 1987, and 1990.
Like many improbable records from the Original Six era, Chadwick’s record of 140 consecutive games with the Maple Leafs as a goaltender will likely stand the test of time. PHR sends its condolences to Chadwick’s family and friends, as well as to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.