1905-1997
Induction 2012 - Athlete
First Wetaskiwin Native to Join
National Hockey League
1932-1942
First to win Stanley Cup
Championship 1935
Wetaskiwin Native Headed to Hockey Career
Gus
Marker was born in Wetaskiwin in 1905. He was the first
hockey player from Wetaskiwin to play in the National Hockey
League and in 1935, playing with the Montreal Maroons, was
the first and only Wetaskiwin native to win the Stanley
Cup. During his ten year NHL career he played
336 games, scored 64 goals and accumulated 69
assists.
Crystals Right-Winer Turned Pro in 1928
Gus Marker spent his early hockey years playing hockey in Wetaskiwin. At the age of 15, he joined the Wetaskiwin Crystals Senior Hockey Team where he played until approximately 1925. After the team folded, Gus spent the 1926 season playing in Camrose before joining the Edmonton Elks for the 1927 season. He turned pro with the Tulsa Oilers of the American Hockey Association in 1928 and played in Tulsa for four seasons from 1928 to 1932.
Gus Played in the Game that Set a
Record for the
Longest Game in Stanley Cup Playoff History
In 1932 Gus had his first experience in the NHL and
split the 1932-1933 season between the Detroit Olympics of the
International-American Hockey League and the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL.
He did the same in 1933-1934. Gus joined the Montreal Maroons of the NHL
for the 1934-1935 season where he played on the Maroon’s top line and helped
lead the Maroons in winning the Stanley Cup. Gus played with the Maroons
for four years from 1934-1938. In both 1935-36 and 1936-37 the Maroons
advanced to the playoffs and in 1935-36 semi-final series - one of the most
evenly matched.
The first game of the Maroons against the Red Wings set a
record for the longest game in Stanley Cup playoff history. The game began at
8:30 p.m. at the Forum in Montreal, and ended at 2:25 a.m.
One
of the Legends of Hockey
In 1938, Gus was sold to the
Toronto Maple Leafs and played in Toronto three more seasons before joining the
Brooklyn Americans in 1941. In Brooklyn he played with Earl Robertson,
another Wetaskiwin and County
Sports Hall of Fame inductee. Gus finished his NHL career
in 1942 after one season with Brooklyn. In 1943 he played
for the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Veterans Hockey
League but retired after only four games. Gus did return to
hockey a couple of years later (1945-1946) and coached the
Tulsa Oilers of the USHL for one year.
Active in Sports and Politics
Distinguished Citizen
Kingston
became Gus Marker’s adopted home and there he built a very
successful construction business and lived with his wife
until his passing in 1997 at age ninety-three. Gus
established himself as a very active member of the Kingston
community
in sports and municipal politics as well as in a vast array
of clubs and other organizations. His love of hockey
never left him and he was a key member of the group which
established the Kingston Hockey Hall of Fame. He was an enthusiastic booster of
amateur athletics. In his honour the Kingston Kiwanis Club gives the “Gus Marker Award” to the outstanding Amateur athlete in Kingston. Gus was as successful in life
as he was in hockey, a multi-millionaire when he died and
one of Kingston’s most distinguished and respected citizens.
We are
elated to be able to recognize one of Wetaskiwin’s old time
sporting heroes and preserve his story. It is a pleasure to
induct Gus Marker into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall
of Fame.
