Ice hockey forward Frank Fredrickson learned to play hockey at the age of five and joined the Winnipeg Falcons in 1913. He would skate with them continuously through 1920, with the exception of a stint in the military during World War I, when he served in the Royal Flying Corps as a pilot. After only six months of training, he and Falcon teammate Konnie Johannesson were such proficient flyers that they began training other new recruits. Upon his return to Canada, Fredrickson helped the Falcons capture the 1920 Allan Cup, given annually to the national senior men’s ice hockey champions, as well as a gold medal at that year’s Summer Olympic ice hockey tournament. During the journey to Antwerp, he and Johannesson teamed up with another passenger to form a musical trio that held concerts aboard the ship. Upon his return he suited up with the Victoria Aristocrats (later the Victoria Cougars) and began playing in the NHL when the Victoria Cougars became the Detroit Cougars (a precursor franchise to the Detroit Red Wings). He was quickly traded to the Boston Bruins where he stayed until late 1928 prior to being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was back in Detroit by 1930, with the team now being named the Falcons, but was quickly demoted down to the International Hockey League’s Detroit Olympics shortly before a knee injury ended his career in 1931.
After his retirement from active competition Fredrickson served as a hockey coach on numerous levels, including the collegiate, with stints at Princeton University (1933-1935) and the University of British Columbia (1948-1950). He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958 and the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985, among numerous other honors. Outside of the sport he coached soccer, lacrosse, and baseball, played violin, and attended the University of Manitoba’s law school.
Canada