George Sullivan, aka Red Sullivan, put together a decent National Hockey League career while playing on some hard luck teams. He twice found himself in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, once with a dismal Chicago Blackhawks team and once with a New York Rangers squad that wasn’t much better. Not quite Hockey Hall of Fame material but good enough to be included among the top 100 Rangers all-time greats.
Junior and Minor Pro
NHL Career
Hockey Card Collection
Coaching Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Red Sullivan – Junior and Minor Pro
The Peterborough, Ontario (click link for article on how his hometown honoured him) native played three years of Junior A hockey with the St. Catherines Teepees from 1947-48 to 1949-50. In his final year, he played just 13 games for St. Catherines, spending much of the season in the American Hockey League with the Hershey Bears. He also played his first three NHL games that season with the Boston Bruins.
By 1950-51, Sullivan had settled into the pro game quite nicely. Appearing in all 70 games for Hershey, Red scored 28 and assisted on 56 for 84 points. He tied for fifth in the AHL for assists with Hugh Currie. In the race for the John B. Sollenberger Trophy, he tied for fifth with Fred Glover and Max McNab.
He wasn’t getting a lot of love from the NHL Bruins, though. However, after his 1953-54 AHL season, he caught the eye of other teams in the NHL. Still with the Bears, Sullivan scored 30 and assisted on 89 for 119 points over 69 games. He was honoured with the Les Cunningham Award as MVP. Red wasn’t among the top ten goal scorers but led the league in assists and had 17 more points than the next competitor, Jack Gordon of the Cleveland Barons.
That 119 points remained an AHL record until 1982-83 when Ross Yates of the Binghamton Whalers totalled 125. Don Biggs of the Binghamton Rangers set the current high with 138 points in 1992-93. Sullivan’s 89 assists stands today, some 60+ years later, as an American Hockey League record. To put that into perspective, Brian O’Neill of the Manchester Monarchs led the league in 2014-15 with just 80 total points.
Those 1953-54 Hershey Bears reached the Calder Cup finals before losing in six to the Barons, despite outscoring their opponents 19-18 on the series. Sullivan was selected as a First Team All-Star and his way back to the National Hockey League was paved in gold.
Sullivan returned to the minors for 1961-62, taking on the dual role of player/head coach with the Kitchener-Waterloo Beavers of the EPHL. His 46 assists was good for fifth in the league. The Beavers placed third in the six team league and lost in the opening round of the playoffs to the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens in seven games.
The following year, 1962-63, Red was player/coach in the AHL for the Baltimore Clippers. On a team led offensively by Dave Creighton, Sullivan added 36 points in 31 games. However, after 31 games, he left the team, replaced for the duration by Aldo Guidolin.
Red Sullivan – NHL
Between 1949-50 an 1960-61, Red Sullivan played 556 regular season games in the NHL with the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers. Over that time, he scored 107 and assisted on 239 for 346 points. However, Red appeared in just 18 playoff games, contributed a goal and two assists.
Red Sullivan Collection
After his big season in the AHL, Red joined the Chicago Blackhawks for 1954-55. Despite the team being buried in last place, Sullivan placed third in the NHL with 42 assists, behind just Bert Olmstead and Doug Harvey, both of the Montreal Canadiens. His 61 points put him in sixth place, a single point behind Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings.
With the 1958-59 New York Rangers, Sullivan placed eighth in the National Hockey League with 42 assists and seventh in the league with 63 points while playing in all 70 games. The Rangers placed fifth in the six team league and did not qualify for the post season.
Red played in five all-star games during his career, two with the Blackhawks and three with the Rangers. He was team Captain with New York from 1957-58 to 1960-61, taking over from Harry Howell and replaced by Andy Bathgate. In the 2009 book, 100 Ranger Greats, Sullivan is ranked 66th.
Red Sullivan – Coaching
Red Sullivan left the Baltimore Clippers 31 games into the 1962-63 American Hockey League season to replace Muzz Patrick as head coach of the Rangers. 20 games into the 1965-66 NHL campaign, Sullivan was replaced behind the New York bench by Emile Francis. In any of those four seasons, the Rangers failed to reach the playoffs.
For the 1968-69 season, Sullivan returned to the NHL, this time as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in their second year of existence. The team finished the year with just 51 points over 76 games. The Penguins tied the Minnesota North Stars for last place overall.
Red’s last kick at the head coaching can came in 1974-75. Jim Anderson coached the first 54 games in the inaugural season for the Washington Capitals with the team winning just four of those games. Sullivan replaced Anderson and the team had a slightly better winning percentage with two victories against 17 losses. Red was replaced before the end of the season by legendary Milt Schmidt.
Red Sullivan – Rookie Card
The Red Sullivan rookie card appears as number 27 in the 1951-52 Parkhurst set. He is shown as a member of the Boston Bruins, one of two cards that show him with the Bruins. That card is valued at around 30% higher than a common card – equal to a semi-star.
Red was included in the 1961-62 Topps set as a member of the Rangers but played that entire season with Kitchener-Waterloo. Sullivan is then included in three Topps sets as head coach with New York.
Red Sullivan Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1947-48 | St. Catharines Teepees | OHA | 26 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 34 |
| 1948-49 | St. Catharines Teepees | OHA | 46 | 32 | 48 | 80 | 53 |
| 1949-50 | St. Catharines Teepees | OHA | 13 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 19 |
| 1949-50 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 51 | 10 | 30 | 40 | 36 |
| 1949-50 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1950-51 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 70 | 28 | 56 | 84 | 36 |
| 1950-51 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1951-52 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 67 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 24 |
| 1952-53 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 36 | 10 | 40 | 50 | 18 |
| 1952-53 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 32 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 8 |
| 1953-54 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 69 | 30 | 89 | 119 | 54 |
| 1954-55 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 69 | 19 | 42 | 61 | 51 |
| 1955-56 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 63 | 14 | 26 | 40 | 58 |
| 1956-57 | New York Rangers | NHL | 42 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 36 |
| 1957-58 | New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 11 | 35 | 46 | 61 |
| 1958-59 | New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 21 | 42 | 63 | 56 |
| 1959-60 | New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 12 | 25 | 37 | 81 |
| 1960-61 | New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 9 | 31 | 40 | 66 |
| 1961-62 | Kitchener-Waterloo Beavers | EPHL | 61 | 16 | 46 | 62 | 81 |
| 1962-63 | Baltimore Clippers | AHL | 31 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 25 |
| NHL Totals | 556 | 107 | 239 | 346 | 441 |