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Born	January 18, 1915(1915-01-18), Paris, ON, CAN
Died	December 24, 1998 (aged 83), Kingston, ON, CAN
Height Weight	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Pro clubs	Toronto Maple Leafs
Career	1936 – 1948
Hall of Fame, 1961

Charles Joseph Sylvanus "Slippery Syl" Apps, CM (January 18, 1915 – December 24, 1998) of Paris, Ontario,^[1] was a Canadian pole vaulter and professional hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1936 to 1948 and a Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario.

Athletic career

Syl Apps, against all five Chicago Black Hawks players

Apps was a strong athlete, 6 feet tall, weighing 185 pounds, and won the gold medal at the 1934 British Empire Games in the pole vault competition. Two years later he represented Canada at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he placed sixth in the pole vault event. After watching him play football at McMaster University, Conn Smythe signed Apps to play hockey with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Apps played centre position with the Toronto Maple Leafs for his entire professional hockey career. His jersey number was 10. He was the winner of the first Calder Trophy in 1937, and the 1942 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. Apps served as the Maple Leafs captain during the first National Hockey League All-Star Game October 13, 1947, at Maple Leaf Gardens. He also played for an all-star team competing in Montreal on October 29, 1939, to raise money for Babe Siebert's family.

Apps retired from the NHL at the age of 33 and took a marketing job with the Simpson's department store. At the same time, he also served as the Ontario Athletic Commissioner.

Politics

While still playing hockey, Apps ran for parliament in the 1940 federal election. He was a candidate in the riding of Brant for the National Government Party but lost to incumbent George Ernest Wood of the Liberals by 138 votes.

Apps was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1963 to 1975. He represented the riding of Kingston from 1963 to 1967 and Kingston and the Islands from 1967 to 1975. He served as the Minister of Correctional Services from 1971 to 1974.

Apps died in 1998 and was buried in Cambridge, Ontario.

Honours

Apps was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961. In 1975 he was elected to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and two years later Apps was made a Member of the Order of Canada. In 1998, he was ranked number 33 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

There are several institutions named for him, including the Syl and Molly Apps Research Centre in Kingston, Ontario, and the Syl Apps Youth Centre in Oakville, Ontario. The sports arena in his home town of Paris is named the Syl Apps Community Centre.

In 2001, Canada Post included Apps in a series of NHL All-Star 47-cent postage stamps.

Won the Stanley Cup 1942, 1947, 1948 (as Captain with Toronto)

Family

His son Syl Apps, Jr. also played in the NHL. His granddaughter Gillian Apps won the Gold medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics for Canada's Women's Ice Hockey Team, and his grandson Syl Apps III was a college hockey star at Princeton University and played four years in the minor leagues. His grandson Darren Barber won a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the Men's 8 in rowing.

Career statistics

References

External links

• Syl Apps's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Syl Apps's biography at Legends of Hockey
• PenaltyBox - Maple Leafs