Garrett of Rangers, World War II hero, remembered on Memorial Day

Dudley Morine "Red" Garrett was just 20 when he paid the ultimate price at war, his life lost aboard HMCS Shawinigan on Nov. 25, 1944, when the vessel was torpedoed by a German U-boat in the waters off the tip of Newfoundland.

Garrett had played 23 NHL games, all on defense for the 1942-43 New York Rangers as an 18-year-old, packaged by his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs with forward Hank Goldup on Nov. 27, 1942, in exchange for future Hall of Fame defenseman Babe Pratt.

As it does every Memorial Day, the NHL will give pause to remember the wartime efforts of the many players who enlisted or were drafted into global conflicts, or served their countries at home in numerous war-related efforts.

Two NHL players lost their lives in World War II: Garrett and Windsor, Ontario, native Joe Turner, who played 70 minutes in Olympia Stadium goal for the Detroit Red Wings in a 3-3 overtime tie Feb. 5, 1942, against the Maple Leafs.

Dudley "Red" Garrett (right) chats with Bob Davidson at Garden City Arena in St. Catharines, Ontario during training camp before the 1942-43 season. Garrett would be traded that Nov. 27to the New York Rangers, for whom he played his 23 NHL games. Turofsky/Hockey Hall of Fame

Turned played a strong game, summoned from Indianapolis of the American Hockey League to sub for injured starter Johnny Mowers; coincidentally, he yielded Toronto's third goal to Goldup, the player who soon would be traded to the Rangers with Garrett.

"The kid showed me tonight that he has everything he needs to be a great goalie," said Red Wings general manager Jack Adams.

But there was no room for Turner in a one-goalie system, so he was returned to Indianapolis.

Back in the minors and wanting to serve the war effort overseas, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. Turner was 25 when he died in battle on Dec. 13, 1944, killed by an artillery shell during the Battle of Hurtgen Forest in Germany.

He was buried in a military cemetery in Belgium until his remains were transferred back to Canada a decade later, interred in his hometown of Windsor.

Goalie Joe Turner with the International Hockey League's 1941-42 Indianapolis Capitols, and the Turner Cup, which from 1945-2001 was awarded annually to the IHL champion. Hockey Hall of Fame

From its birth in 1945 through its demise in 2001, the International Hockey League named its championship trophy the Turner Cup in the late goalie's honor, celebrating first the Detroit Auto Club and finally the Orlando Solar Bears. The nearly four-foot, eight-tiered, sterling bowl-capped trophy is likely the simplest award in the Hockey Hall of Fame's collection.

Garrett had graduated from Toronto midget and major junior hockey, under the wing of the Maple Leafs organization. The NHL club was nurturing him, seeing his potential on the blue line, when a deal for Pratt proved too good to pass up. So, Garrett and Goldup were bundled to the Rangers, the latter having played 100 games for the Maple Leafs, 102 more to come for New York.

Garrett played his 23 games between Nov. 29, 1942, and Feb. 18, 1943, his one NHL goal the game-winner in a 3-1 road victory Christmas Day 1942 in Detroit. It was an eventful game; in addition to his breakaway goal against netminder Johnny Mowers, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Garrett also earned his first of two NHL major penalties, scrapping with Red Wings forward Carl Liscombe.

Front-page news of the sinking of the HMCS Shawinigan as reported in the Dec. 7, 1944 edition of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. Dudley Garrett's abbreviated name appears atop the fourth column. Newspapers.com

Garrett would be farmed to Providence of the AHL, from where he enlisted in the Canadian Navy on July 13, 1943. He played wartime hockey for Sydney (Nova Scotia), York-Toronto Navy and Cornwallis Navy, then eagerly set off to serve aboard the HMCS Shawinigan as a member of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve.

The Canadian corvette was escorting the ferry SS Burgeo on Nov. 25, 1944, when it was torpedoed and sunk in the Cabot Strait, between Newfoundland and Cape Breton. All 91 officers and crew aboard, including Able Seaman Dudley Morine Garrett, perished on the last ship lost in the Battle of the St. Lawrence.

Garrett is remembered with a grave in Toronto's Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

In 1947, in honor of their late alumnus, the AHL introduced the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award. Voted on annually by coaches, players and media, it is awarded to the league's outstanding rookie. Through the decades, the prize has honored many future NHL players, including Hall of Fame goaltender Terry Sawchuk, the 1949 recipient while with Indianapolis, and Brett Hull, honored in 1987 with Moncton.

Dudley "Red" Garrett in a 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs training-camp photo (left) and Bob Solinger, with the Maple Leafs in 1951. Turofsky/Hockey Hall of Fame

Among the honor roll: Don Marshall, 1954; Rick Middleton, 1974; Darryl Sutter, 1980; Ron Hextall, 1986; Daniel Briere, 1998; Tyler Toffoli, 2013; Matt Murray 2015; and Mikko Rantanen and Frank Vatrano, 2016.

The inaugural winner was Bob Solinger of the 1947-48 Cleveland Barons; the 2022-23 recipient was Coachella Valley Firebirds forward Tye Kartye, who played 10 games for the Seattle Kraken this Stanley Cup Playoff season.

Briere, the newly named general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers, would play 973 NHL games for five teams between 1998-2015. He views his Garrett award with the Springfield Falcons as being "a pretty cool achievement, your first year in the professional leagues. To be able to do that at the time, I didn't realize how cool it was quite as much because my goal was to move up to the NHL.

"But now, looking back, it was such a huge part of my development, playing in the minors," Briere said. "I appreciate it a lot more and I'm proud of what I was able to go through, to put in the time and be successful in the minors.

Two winners of the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Trophy: Daniel Briere, 1998, here with the Phoenix Coyotes, and Terry Sawchuk, 1949, here with the AHL Indianapolis Capitals. Jed Jacobsohn /Allsport; Le Studio du hockey/Hockey Hall of Fame

"That really shaped the rest of my career. … There are some really impressive names beside mine winning that award. So that is really cool in itself, too."

In his last letter home, dated Oct. 29, 1944, Garrett wrote to his family: "Hockey season got away to a pretty fair start last night -- heard it on the radio and felt just a bit tough…"

Less than a month later, his body was among the first recovered following the Shawinigan's sinking.

Garrett and Turner are two men whose NHL footprint was small. But both are worthy of reflection on this Memorial Day, as they are on Remembrance Day in Canada - two NHL players who went to war, never to return.

Top photo: Able Seaman Dudley Morine "Red" Garrett, photographed as a member of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. Turofsky/Hockey Hall of Fame

NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamin contributed to this report