Sept. 16, 1964 - Bobby Bauer, a former member of hockey’s famed Kraut Line (pictured) for the Boston Bruins of the 1930s, died in a hospital in Kitchener, Ontario, today of a heart attack. He was 49 years old.
Bauer (left), a right winger who played with center Milt Schmidt (center), now coach of the Bruins, and left winger Woody Dumart (right), now a Boston businessman, was stricken while playing golf Saturday.
The name “Kraut Line” was devised by Albert Leduc, a player for the Montreal Canadiens, while the trio were playing for a Boston farm club in 1936. Originally “The Sauerkraut Line,” the nickname was later shortened. The name referenced the German descent of the three players, all of whom grew up in Kitchener, where they previously played for the Kitchener Greenshirts.
The trio played almost 1,900 NHL games with the Bruins and were one of the most dominant lines of any era, leading Boston to two Stanley Cup championships, in 1939 and 1941. The trio was the first line ever to finish first, second, and third in NHL scoring, in 1939-40.
Although he retired from the NHL in 1947, Bauer kept his hand in the sport and coached the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen for the 1959-60 season.
During his NHL career, Bauer scored 123 goals.
He won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct three times.
Bauer dropped out of hockey shortly after returning from service in World War II. His last goal came five years after he quit. He came out of retirement to play one game in 1952 on Dumart-Schmidt-Bauer night.
He, Schmidt, and Dumart all joined the Royal Canadian Air Force on the same day, Jan. 10, 1942, forcing them to leave the Bruins midway through the season. In their final game with the Bruins, the Kraut Line recorded eight points in a dominating victory over the Canadiens. Following the contest, players from both teams cheered the trio, hoisting them up on their shoulders and parading them around the ice. Bauer was overwhelmed by the moment, and Schmidt later called it “one of the biggest thrills of my life.”
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