True and Fascinating Canadian History
Vet of the Month: December, 2022
Reg.#9812, Constable Frederick Lionel Hitchman. NHL
by J. J. Healy,
RCMP Vets Ottawa, ON
The RCMP was greatly honoured to have Frederick Lionel Hitchman within its ranks as a member of the Force if only for a short span of time. After his discharge from the RCMP, Frank Hitchman left his mark in the National Hockey League. He played twelve seasons in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators and for the Boston Bruins.
Frederick Hitchman was born in Toronto on November 3, 1901. He joined the RCMP in Ottawa on October 05, 1921. He was offered Basic Recruit Training at Rockcliffe near Ottawa, and it was here that Frederiick Hitchman served with the RCMP from October, 1921 to June, 1922. It is only speculation, but perhaps his great hockey skills were noticed by hockey scouts, and soon he was offered a chance to play with the Ottawa Senators in 1922. He took his discharge from the RCMP at the time.
Frederick Lionel Hitchman played in the NHL from the 1922-23 season until the 1933-34 season. He played 417 regular season games, scoring 28 goals and 34 assists for 62 points and accumulated 523 penalty minutes.
He played 35 playoff games, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points and he was assessed 73 penalty minutes in his playoff career.
He played three seasons with the Ottawa Senators and nine seasons with the Boston Bruins and won Stanley Cups with Ottawa in 1923 (defeating Edmonton Eskimos) and in 1929 with the Boston Bruins (defeating the New York Rangers)
Frederick Hitchman died on December 5th, 1968 in Glen Fall, New York. He was buried in Cedar River Cemetery, Indian Lake, New York.
I wish to thank Mr Lorne McKinnon who wrote to me on October 27, 2014 and who kindly provided some of Hitchman's statistics for me.
Reporting from Fort Healy,
J. J. Healy
December 3, 2022
