Hockey Heroes: Slippery Sid Finney

Sid Finney may have been born in Banbridge, Ireland but he was a Calgary boy through and through. He is a junior, senior a professional hockey legend in the Alberta city. From 1953 through 1962 he entertained audiences with the Calgary Stampeders of the old professional Western Hockey League.

Despite lighting up the slower WHL, Finney never really stuck in the NHL. The Stamps were a Chicago Blackhawks farm team, and Finney did get a chance to play in 59 games with the Hawks over 3 seasons, including 35 games in the 1951-52 season.

Finney's most memorable game in the NHL was the final game of that 1952 season. In a wild 7-6 win over the New York Rangers, Finney set up the opening goal and scored the tying and winning goals late in the third period!

But that's not even why that game was memorable, not even for him. That was the night his teammate Bill Mosienko scored the most famous hat trick of all time - three goals in 21 seconds!

"I couldn't believe it!" remembered Finney years later. "We all just sat there."

By all accounts Sid Finney was a fantastic scorer and smooth operator. He once was billed as "the chief salesman for local chiropractors by tying defensemen in knots."

Though he finished his hockey career by winning the Allan Cup down the road with the Drumheller Miners in 1966, Finney lived the rest of his life in Calgary.