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Born in Umea, Sweden on April 25, 1906, Gus Forslund moved to Canada with his parents
at the age of three. Like many europeans of the time immigrating to Canada, they settled
in Port Arthur, Ontario, which is now part of Thunder Bay.
Gus began his junior hockey career with the Port Arthur Ports in 1926, and played the
next season for the rival Fort William Forts before missing a year due to an unknown
injury. In 1929 he moved to Duluth Minnesota to play for the AHA Duluth Hornets, where he
remained until the end of the 1931-32 season. In the summer of 1932, Gus was signed
as a free agent by the Ottawa Senators where he played 48 games in what would be his one
and only NHL season.
Unfortunately for Gus, Ottawa was a bad place to be for an NHL rookie in 1932-33. Following
a one year hiatus from the league in order to save money, Ottawa fielded a team, but
finished dead last in the standings, with only 11 wins. From Ottawa, Gus went on to
play in the Can-Am and IHL leagues until the end of the 1936 season. He then returned to the
Tunder Bay area to coach the Fort William Wanderers in the 1936-37 season.
With two young children, and the demands of life as a professional athlete weighing on
him, Gus chose to leave professional hockey and take a job as an accountant at
McLeod Cockshutt Gold Mines in Geraldton Ontario. Like many players, Gus kept an interest in
the sport, and helped organize junior hockey during World War II, in which he would not serve
due to medical reasons.
At only 39 years of age, Gus' wife passed away, leaving him to raise two young children.
Gus would not play hockey again, and rarely discussed his career for the remainder of his life.
On August 4th 1962, at the age of 56, Gus suffered a blood clot
and passed away in Geraldton. He is buried in Thunder Bay.
Given Gus' short stint in the NHL, little else is known about his hockey career, even by his family.
A number of years ago, a Thunder Bay researcher borrowed Gus' hockey scrapbook from his children
with the intent of returning it when his article on European immigrants in Thunder Bay was
complete. Tragically, a house fire claimed the life of the researcher, and the scrapbook.
The
photograph of Gus in his 1932
Ottawa Senators uniform is one of the few remaining momentos
of his hockey career, which was graciously provided by his daughter.
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1 NHL Season
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4 Goals, 9 Assists
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Born: April 25 1906
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Died: August 4 1962
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- Nickname: Gus
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Team: Senators
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