Alex Connell

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Alexander Connell (b. February 8, 1902 in Ottawa, Ontario - May 10, 1958) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the New York Americans (loaned from the Ottawa Senators), Ottawa Senators, Detroit Falcons (rights transferred from the Ottawa Senators for that season) and the Montreal Maroons in the National Hockey League.

Connell was the star goalie for the Senators team in the late 1920's. He was acquired just after the third Stanley Cup victory for Ottawa in a deal that saw Clint Benedict (Ottawa's former number one goalie) depart Ottawa for the Montreal Maroons. In 1927 he was one of the first goalies to record a 30-win season, the year that the Ottawa Senators won the last of their Stanley Cups. Connell currently holds the NHL record for the longest shutout streak at 461:29 in 1928, which is more than six full games. His role in Ottawa was limited due to the decline of the team and in the early 1930's his playing rights were switched to Montreal. He led the Montreal Maroons to a Stanley Cup in 1935; however, he fell out of favour as Montreal's leading goaltender after allowing five goals to be scored against him in one game. When compared to today's goalies (like Patrick Roy's nine-goal outburst during the 1995-96 season), this clearly shows the difference in scoring between the old and new NHL and the consistency which goaltenders like Connell had to display. His 1.99 career goals against average is the all-time record among goaltenders of his era. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.

He lived to see himself elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, but died before his formal induction after a lengthy illness on May 10th, 1958.