John Joseph “Jack” Kirran Jr. ( English John Joseph "Jack" Kirrane Jr. , August 20, 1928 , Brooklyn , Massachusetts , USA - September 26, 2016 , Quincy , Massachusetts , USA ) - American hockey player, champion of the Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley (1960). for many decades he has been a record holder because he had the longest time interval between appearances in the US Olympic hockey teams.
 Jack Kirrein | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | defender | |
| Growth | 178 cm | |
| Weight | 77 kg | |
| Citizenship |  | |
| Born | August 20, 1928 | |
| Died | September 26, 2016 (88 years old) | |
| Career | 1947-1963 | |
| Clubs | ||
| Boston Olympics Worcester Warriors | ||
| International medals | ||
Sports career
He started playing hockey as a child with his brothers at a neighboring pond. In high school, he was involved in baseball, athletics, football and ice hockey.
In 1948, he became the youngest member of the US Olympic hockey team. When the team went to St. Moritz (Switzerland) to take part in the Olympic Games, a conflict arose over Olympic law (at that time the tournament was exclusively amateur), and two US teams were sent. It was a situation that almost caused the cancellation of the entire hockey tournament. In the end, the US team took 4th place, but was disqualified by the decision of the IOC for the statement of professional players, which was prohibited by the rules of the Games. However, the results of matches with her are upheld.
After the Olympics, he continued to play amateur hockey for the Boston Olympics Club of the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL), the farm club of the National Hockey League Boston Bruins . He lost his chance of a career in the NHL when he was drafted into the United States Army to serve in the Korean War . Demobilized, became a firefighter in his hometown of Brookline (Massachusetts). This time he played another season (1954/55) at EAHL for the Worcester Warriors club. In 1957, two years after his last season at EAHL, he led his team to the United States National Championship Amateur Hockey Association.
On the eve of the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley (1960), he got the opportunity to play for the US team. To do this, he had to arrange unpaid leave in the fire department and sell his pickup to afford a plane ticket. Twelve years after he was the youngest player in his first Olympic team in 1948, this time he turned out to be the oldest hockey player and was selected as captain of the team.
The US team entered the tournament as an outsider. However, during the tournament, the Americans were able to defeat the Canadians who dominated the match 2: 1, and then the USSR national team 3: 2. In the final game, the Americans met Czechoslovakia and won 9-4, becoming Olympic champions. After presenting the medal, he received a congratulatory telegram from his friend from Brooklyn, John F. Kennedy , at that time the US Senator. Upon returning, work colleagues were picked up from the airport by fire truck, and a banquet was arranged in his honor at the Brookline High gym.
The final appearance for the US team at the World Cup in Stockholm (1963) was unsuccessful, the US team officially finished last.
In 1987, he was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame.
For 38 years, he worked as a firefighter in Brooklyn, ending his career as a lieutenant in Ladder Co. 2. Also, for 15 years he was the manager of the rink at the Bright-Landry hockey center at Harvard University . In December 2010, an ice rink was renamed in his honor at the Larz Anderson Park in Brooklyn.
Links
- Jack Kirrein - Olympic statistics at Sports-Reference.com
- https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/05/sports/hockey/jack-kirrane-captain-of-us-gold-medal-hockey-team-in-1960-dies-at-86.html