In 1955-56, Ed Chadwick came to the Toronto Maple Leafs in relief of injured goalie Harry Lumley and put up amazing numbers for the five games he appeared in. The following two years saw him play every game for the Maple Leafs. However, Johnny Bower burst onto the scene and Chadwick’s NHL career was pretty much done by the end of the 1958-59 season.
Still, this is a story of one of those goalies that was pushed aside by a six team league in an era when one goalie played most, if not all, of a team’s games. Despite his short National Hockey League career, Chadwick enjoyed a lengthy and successful hockey career that started in junior with the St. Michael’s Majors and ended in the AHL with the Buffalo Bisons. Ed also spent parts of five decades as a scout for a handful of NHL teams.
Ed Chadwick – Junior and Minor Pro
Ed played three years of junior hockey in the OHA with the St. Michael’s Majors. In his final season, the team reached the OHA finals before falling to the Barrie Flyers. The series was a best of nine affair with Barrie winning in eight. St. Michael’s had the lead at three games to two but dropped the final three games. That year, Chadwick also saw his first pro action, playing in one AHL game with the Pittsburgh Hornets.
Ed Chadwick Collection
Chadwick caught the hockey world’s attention in 1955-56 as a member of the Winnipeg Warriors of the WHL. He appeared in 68 of the team’s 70 regular season games and all 14 games in the playoffs. The Warriors, led by Barry and Brian Cullen, Bill Mosienko and Fred Shero, finished first overall in the nine team league. Winnipeg met the Vancouver Canucks in the finals and won the championship in six games. That year, Ed also played his first NHL games with five as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After his brief National Hockey League career was mostly in the books, Ed found himself in the AHL with the Rochester Americans in 1959-60. He played in 67 games, recording a 2.75 goals against average and posting four shutouts. Chadwick earned the Harry ‘Hap’ Holmes Memorial Award for the AHL goalie with the lowest number of goals against. The Amerks finished second in the seven team league, behind the mighty Springfield Indians. The two teams met in the finals and Springfield won the Calder Cup in five games. However, Rochester was only outscored 17-16 on the series.
Two years later, 1961-62, Chadwick found himself in the Boston Bruins organization and playing for the Kingston Frontenacs in the EPHL. He appeared in 67 of the team’s 70 regular season games with Ernie Wakely backing him up. The Frontenacs were led by Orval Tessier, Harry Sinden and Dick Cherry, finishing second overall in the six team league. Ed played in all eleven playoff games as Kingston lost in the finals to the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens.
The following year, Chadwick was back in the American Hockey League, this time with the Hershey Bears. He played 68 of the team’s 72 regular season games as the Bears placed second in the five team Eastern Division and third overall in the nine team league. Once again, Ed was denied a Calder Cup championship as Hershey was ousted by the Buffalo Bisons in seven games in the finals. Chadwick played all 15 playoff games for the Bears.
Chadwick played in the AHL until the end of the 1967-68 season with Hershey and the Buffalo Bisons before retiring as a player.
Ed Chadwick – NHL
His first appearance in the National Hockey League came in 1955-56 after Toronto’s number one goalie Harry Lumley was injured. Chadwick appeared in five games and put up amazing numbers on a not so great Maple Leafs team. Over the five games, Ed allowed just three goals. His GAA was 0.60 with two shutouts and a .977 save percentage. Toronto finished the season fourth of six with just 59 points over 70 games, just two points ahead of the Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot.
The next two years saw him play in all 70 regular season games for the Maple Leafs. However, in a pre-1970 rarity, Toronto failed to reach the post season in either of those years. The following year, Ed had his playing time cut in half and was reduced to being Johnny Bower’s backup. In 1959-60, he played in just four games for Toronto and in 1961-62 he saw his last NHL action with just four games for the Boston Bruins.
Ed Chadwick – NHL Scout
Right after retiring as a player with the Buffalo Bisons, Chadwick jumped right into a scouting role in the National Hockey League. His first year was with the Pittsburgh Penguins before moving on to the Oakland Seals / California Golden Seals organization.
However, his best work probably came after joining the expansion New York Islanders for the 1972-73 season. He remained with New York until the end of the 1978-79 NHL campaign after what was probably one of the most successful examples of building a championship team. The following year, the Islanders won their first of four consecutive Stanley Cup championships.
Ed followed that up with three years as scout and goaltending coach with the Buffalo Sabres from 1979-80 to 1981-82. On those Scotty Bowman and Roger Neilson coached Buffalo teams, Chadwick helped out the netminding duo of Don Edwards and Bob Sauve.
After leaving Buffalo, Chadwick joined the Edmonton Oilers and the timing couldn’t have been better. Ed was a scout for the Oilers from 1982-83 to 2000-01. Over that time, Edmonton won five Stanley Cup championships and had a roster that is among the top three or four all-time in NHL history.
Ed Chadwick – Rookie Card
The official Ed Chadwick rookie card appears as number 27 (Toronto 2) in the 1957-58 Parkhurst set and is valued at more than six times that of a common card. However, being a goalie for a hockey card set that features players from just two teams has its privileges.
Chadwick was also featured on two In Action cards that are also considered rookie cards. The first shows him getting beat by Montreal’s Bert Olmstead and the second has Bernie Geoffrion getting the puck around him. Both of those cards are valued at around twice that of a common card.
Ed Chadwick Career Stats
| Season | Team | GP | A | PIM | SO | GAA |
| 1955-56 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.60 |
| 1956-57 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2.66 |
| 1957-58 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3.19 |
| 1958-59 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 31 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2.97 |
| 1959-60 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.75 |
| 1961-62 | Boston Bruins | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.50 |