Stan Simon

Stan Simon, also known as Maurice, started his senior ice hockey career as a goaltender with the Earl’s Court Redwings in the Inter-Provincial League as a teenager, and when still only 18, was understudy to Jimmy Foster in the Great Britain team at the 1939 World Championship. After World War II, he played for Harringay Racers in the National League, before joining Earl’s Court Rangers. He spent most of his time with them as a reserve, but his services were required by Brighton Tigers, Nottingham Panthers, and the newly re-formed Earl’s Court Marlboroughs in the 1949/50 season. At the 1948 Olympics, Simon kept goal in all eight of Great Britain’s matches. After a 16-year career, he retired from the sport in 1953.

After the war, because of financial restrictions, it was not possible for British ice hockey teams to import good quality sticks from North America so Simon, a cabinet maker by trade, along with former player Freddie Dunkelman, came up with an idea of using laminated wood to replace traditional hickory-based sticks as made in Britain at the time. They made their sticks from a factory in Battersea, which were distributed to clubs in England, Scotland, and Europe.