#130 SKATING TO OPPORTUNITY--part 1
-created by ChatGPT
In the 1930s, a Canadian boy learned the game very differently. His hockey education took place on frozen ponds and outdoor rinks, wearing a wool sweater, thin gloves, and heavy leather skates, his only protection a bit of padding and his own toughness. Skill was learned through repetition and instinct. The paths could not look more different, yet both began the same way — with a boy, a stick, and the determination to be better than yesterday.
JOHN
“JACK” THOMAS KEATING
John Thomas “Jack” Keating was born on his father’s farm in West Garafraxa, Wellington County on October 9, 1916. The next year his parents, Fred Keating and Rita Cushing, moved into Fergus where Fred purchased a coal and wood business; in 1924, Fred gave up the business and moved to Kitchener to work as a carpenter.
Jack’s rise in the hockey world was all the more remarkable given the circumstances of his childhood. He grew up in a rented house in downtown Kitchener, one of seven children in a family supported by a labouring father, during the hardest years of the Great Depression. Money was scarce, but hockey was one of the few sports that did not require much. Jack likely learned the game on outdoor rinks and frozen ponds, using shared or second-hand equipment, playing for hours in the cold alongside siblings and older, stronger neighbourhood boys. What he lacked in resources, he made up for in time, toughness, and determination; it sharpened his instincts and built resilience.
SCHOOL: He attended St. Jerome’s High School in Kitchener, a small Catholic institution
known in the 1930s for its discipline, academic seriousness, emphasis on
character, commitment and resilience. Tuition at St. Jerome’s was kept modest
and priests often quietly helped families when money was tight. Jack’s
attendance suggest that his family valued a good education, that teachers saw
promise in him and that he was trusted to balance school, work and hockey.
St. Jerome’s viewed hockey as character-building, healthy exercise and complementary to academic discipline so the school did offer intermural hockey and sometimes games against other local Catholic schools. But it was local arenas and community teams that provided Jack with a more elite level of hockey. The school shaped the boy with discipline, expectations and adult oversight, but the town teams shaped the hockey player. Coaches noticed boys who didn’t quit.
HOCKEY IN KITCHENER: From 1934 to 1936, Jack played for the
Kitchener Greenshirts, a prominent Junior A team in the Ontario Hockey
Association (OHA). The OHA was very competitive, and the Greenshirts one of the
strongest teams, packed with talent and ambition. Practices were demanding,
games were fast and physical. In 1934-5, the Greenshirts went 18-1 in league
play, scored 106 goals with 36 against, dominated their group, and won the Cup with a bit of playoff drama. (In
that 1934-5 Ontario championship final, Oshawa beat Kitchener on the
ice, but Kitchener protested player eligibility; the OHA upheld the protest
(over-age ruling), and Kitchener was awarded the title by default. But by the
time the ruling was made, the Memorial Cup playoffs had already moved on, ending Kitchener’s chance to compete nationally.) In that 1934-35 season, Jack played 14 games, scored 11 goals and 10 assists and had but 4 penalty minutes; he scored one goal in the playoffs.
The next year, Jack played in 7 regular season games with 6 goals, one assist and 10 penalty minutes. The Greenshirts were runner-ups for the OHS Junior championship in 1935-6; Jack had 3 goals, and 1 assist in those playoffs. The Greenshirts of the 1930s wasn’t just a local kids' club but was developing talent for higher levels of hockey. Jack proved that he had the skill and resolve to play professionally.
Jack’s stats show he was not a one-dimensional scorer, but a
smart, balanced and dependable player. His nearly even mix of goals and assists
show a strong hockey sense and an ability to read the game, contributing both
as a finisher and a playmaker. On a powerful Kitchener Greenshirts team where
ice time had to be earned, his steady point production suggests regular use and
the confidence of his coaches. Just as revealing was his discipline: only four
penalty minutes in an era known for rough, loosely officiated play. This points
to clean positioning, emotional control, and an understanding of when to take
risks and when not to and he was certainly the kind of player that coaches
loved. Altogether, the evidence suggests a mature, coachable player—reliable in
close games, trusted in important moments, and well suited to advancement.
HOCKEY IN ENGLAND: In 1936, Jack, aged 20, went to play hockey in England.
In the mid-1930s, Britain had fallen briefly, and unexpectedly, in love with ice hockey. This was because England had just won the 1936 Olympic gold medal. Their win was considered one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history for it was expected that Canada, which had won gold in every Olympics since hockey was introduced in 1920, would again dominate the tournament. No one seriously expected Britain to challenge them. But Britain had a secret advantage. Although the team wore British colours, many of its players were Canadian-born, men who had learned the game in Canada before moving to Britain for work, study, or sport. Under Olympic rules at the time, they were eligible to play for Great Britain, and they brought with them the speed, tactics, and physical confidence of North American hockey. (Note: Jack did not play in these Olympics.) The tournament used a round-robin format rather than a single final. In the most dramatic game, Great Britain defeated Canada 2–1, a result that stunned players, officials, and spectators alike. Canada won its other games convincingly, but that one loss to Britain proved decisive. When final standings were calculated, Britain finished at the top of the table, Canada took silver, and United States won bronze.
The British gold medal sent shockwaves through the hockey
world. In Britain, it sparked a surge of interest in the sport. Almost overnight, hockey shifted from a
curiosity to a fashionable winter attraction, especially in London. A new
professional structure quickly followed. The English National League was
created to showcase top-level play in large indoor arenas. Team owners
understood that to draw crowds they needed Canadian talent; Canada was seen as
hockey’s unquestioned authority, and a young Canadian player lent instant
credibility to any roster. Fans came not just to watch the game, but to see how
Canadians played it — faster, rougher, and with a confidence shaped by
years on frozen ponds and in fiercely competitive leagues. And young Canadians
were fast, they could handle the smaller European rinks and frequent games; and
the crowds like their talented showmanship.
British teams were especially interested in young Canadians
like Jack Keating. Established NHL players were too expensive and often
unavailable, but young men in their late teens and early twenties offered the perfect
balance: highly trained, ambitious, willing to travel and affordable. Many were
eager for an opportunity at a time when professional hockey jobs in North America
were scarce and the Great Depression still limited options. A season in England
promised regular pay, prestige, regular ice
time, and the chance to build a professional resume, all while living in
one of the world’s great cities.
Recruitment was informal but purposeful. British clubs
relied on Canadian contacts — former players, coaches, and agents — who knew
which young men were ready for the leap. And Jack wasn’t “discovered” -his
offensive skills were already well-known. A good junior or senior season could
lead to a quiet offer, sometimes arriving by letter or telegram, with travel
arranged almost as quickly. Sometimes players didn’t even know which English
team they would join until travel was arranged.
For players like Jack, England was not a gamble but a
logical next step, a place where proven Canadian ability was welcomed and
rewarded. To be offered a professional contract to play in England proved that
Jack, just 20 years old, was among the
top tier of young players in Ontario, that he was adaptable, mentally tough
enough to travel alone, that he was skilled enough to be noticed and to justify the expense of transatlantic travel.
Not every good Canadian hockey player went to England; only those clearly above
average did.
So, for a brief window before the Second World War, Britain
became the unlikely crossroads of international hockey. Young Canadians crossed
the Atlantic each autumn and returned home each spring, carrying new
experiences and stronger résumés. Jack Keating’s season in England placed him
squarely within that moment — when Canadian skill reshaped British hockey, and
British opportunity helped launch the careers of young men bold enough to
answer the call.
Jack played hockey in England for two seasons. In 1936-37,
he played 40 games for the Richmond Hawks in London. Jack notched13 goals, 2
assists, 8 penalty minutes but the team struggled that season and soon folded.
The next year, Jack played for the Harringay Racers, one of the premier teams in England’s National League. The Racers played out of the Harringay Arena in North London, a vast indoor venue that could hold more than 10,000 spectators, one of the largest hockey arenas in Europe. The Racers featured a core of experienced Canadian professionals and was known for its aggressive, high-tempo play, and strong forward lines. For Jack, playing with Harringay meant stepping fully into the spotlight of Britain’s hockey boom. The Racers were not a struggling or obscure club; they were a flagship team in the country’s top league. Ice time there was earned, not given. Competing night after night in front of packed London crowds required confidence, discipline, and adaptability — qualities Jack had been building since his junior days in Kitchener. That season, Jack was the highest scorer in the UK with 20 goals, and the Racers won the English National League Championship. The Racers’ success in 1937–38 came near the end of Britain’s hockey golden age. Within a year, international tensions and financial pressures would begin to strain the league, and the outbreak of the Second World War would soon bring this remarkable era to a close. But during that winter, Harringay stood at the centre of British hockey — and Jack Keating was a major part of it.
The English hockey season concluded in early spring. In April 1937, Jack
returned to North America aboard the newly-built Queen Mary.
Jack entered the U.S. A. under an Executive Order, a standard immigration provision used for temporary professional workers. Athletes playing abroad were commonly admitted this way, outside the normal quota system, reflecting that they were not immigrants but contracted professionals moving between leagues. Jack travelled with other young players whose seasons had ended at the same time, so their paperwork was handled as a group. On the ship manifest, Jack was described as 6'1" tall, with a light complexion, red hair, blue eyes and in "perfect health."
For Jack, the voyage was both practical and transitional: time to rest, to reflect, and to shift mentally from English hockey back to the competitive world awaiting him in North America.
...to be continued...
Out of interest, I asked chatgpt to write me a poem about Jack’s early hockey life.
Jack Keating: Learning the Game the
Hard Way
He didn’t
learn his game in a shining rink,
With crisp white ice and time to think.
No flashing lights, no coach’s shout—
Just frozen ponds, the cold, and grit,
And bigger kids who knocked him out.
A woollen
sweater, gloves worn thin,
Heavy skates that dug right in.
If Jack fell down, he stood back up,
Chased the puck, stayed out too long,
Skated hard till daylight gave up.
Born in
nineteen-sixteen’s year,
Ontario cold, the world unclear,
The Depression pressed on every door,
Seven children, little more—
No extras, no shortcuts, no easy score.
No
whistles blew, no trophies shone,
Just aching feet and frozen bones.
He learned by losing, learned by trying,
Learned by staying when others left,
By never quitting, never crying.
And
slowly—quietly—something grew:
A steady player, tough and true.
When games got rough, he didn’t rush,
Didn’t panic, didn’t freeze,
Just kept on skating, kept his push.
The
Greenshirts called from Kitchener town,
A junior team with a solid crown.
Faster ice, harder hits,
Every shift a test of nerve—
Jack proved he truly fit.
Then
across the sea a chance appeared,
England called—bold and weird.
Olympic gold had stirred the crowd,
They wanted Canadians—fast and proud,
And Jack said yes, though home was loud.
New
arenas, ten thousand strong,
Boards that shook with cheer and song.
Faster ice and crowded nights,
No place to hide, no room for doubt—
Just skill and effort under lights.
He
scored, he passed, his team prevailed,
The league’s top scorer, champions hailed.
But more than goals, what truly stayed
Was teamwork learned on frozen ponds
Where no one watched and no one paid.
Jack
Keating’s story isn’t luck,
Or fancy gear, or golden pucks.
It’s patience, effort, showing up,
Believing you belong out there—
And staying in when things get tough.
In
hockey, soccer, track, or play,
The lesson’s clear in every way:
Great things grow where no one sees,
From cold, hard work and quiet grit—
From not giving up. Ever.
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