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INDUCTEE 2012 - ATHLETE - August Gus Solberg Marker


 


Professional Hockey Player
National Hockey League 1932-1942
Stanley Cup Championship 1935
1928-1942


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.

First and Only Wetaskiwin Native to Win the Stanley Cup

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.  Each year the outstanding Amateur athlete in Kingston is awarded the “Gus Marker Award”.  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.

 

 




 

 



 
 

 

 

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Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame
Box 7123, Wetaskiwin, Alberta, T9A 2Y9
Photo Credits - Nominations