Andy Brown

Andy Brown in 1937, when he was playing for the Bengal Cubs. Photo courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator.

Adam Brown
Hamilton Beach resident played for three NHL clubs in 1940s and 1950s

Adam Brown was born in Scotland in 1920, and he and his family moved to Hamilton while he was at an early age, and started his hockey career with the Hamilton Bengal Cubs for the 1937-38 season. After that first year with the Ontario Hockey Association Junior club, he played for the Stratford Majors in the OHA’s Senior division, honing his skills as a solid puck handler who could dice it out with the best in front of the net and along the boards.

After a year with Guelph, where he scored 21 goals in the 1939-40 season, he went to the Omaha Knights of the American Hockey Association for his first professional season. He was called up to the Detroit Red Wings in the 1941-42 season, and although he only played 28 games for the Red Wings, he had six goals.
He went back to the minors for the rest of the season, playing for the Indianapolis Capitals of the American Hockey League, and scored a career-best of 34 goals in the 1942-43 season before returning briefly to the Red Wings.

For the final two years of World War II Brown played in the minors, but came back to the Red Wings with a flourish, scoring 20 goals in his 48-game 1945-46 Red Wing season.

The defenseman went to the Chicago Black Hawks in December of 1946 where he remained for close to four seasons before going to the Kansas City Pla-Mors of the United States Hockey League. After a stay with the St. Louis Flyers of the American Hockey League in the 1949-50 season, Brown had a 53-game stint with the Black Hawks, picking up 10 goals. For the 1951-52 season he was with the Boston Bruins.

Andy Brown in 1938. Photo courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator.

The remainder of his hockey was played with the Hershey Bears, the Quebec Aces, and the Sudbury Wolves before he retired in 1955. In his NHL career with the three teams, he played in 391 contests, scored 104 times, and picked up 113 assists.

Brown was not only adept at hockey. He was a softball player, was a good boxer, and in his later years before his death in an auto smash in 1960, was a golfer of note. He was also the father of Andy Brown, who went on to a solid career as an NHL goalie, noted as the last goalie in the major league to not wear any mask protection.

In 1961 the elder Brown was honored with the Adam Brown Memorial Golf Tournament, held at Glendale Golf and Curling Club. The guest list for the golf tournament was peppered with hockey names like Red Kelly, Turk Broda, Milt Schmidt, Harry Howell, and George Armstrong.
The event was for these hockey greats to take to the links in tribute to Brown, who received these accolades in the Hamilton Spectator in July of 1961:

“Adam hit the peak because of many things,” it was recorded. “He was fast, considerably faster than most NHL stars. There was no question about his courage or his desire, He played to win, but not at the expense of sportsmanship.”

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