| Position | Goaltender |
|---|---|
| Played for | Montreal Maroons New York Americans New York Rangers |
| Catches | Right |
| Height | 5 ft |
| Height in | 10 |
| Weight lb | 160 |
| Birth date | January 11, 1910 |
| Birth place | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Death date | May 11, 1978 (aged 68) |
| Death place | Belleville, Ontario, Canada |
| Career start | 1930 |
| Career end | 1941 |
David Alexander Kerr (January 11, 1910 – May 11, 1978) was a Canadian NHL goaltender who played for the Montreal Maroons, New York Americans and New York Rangers.[1]
Playing career
He played amateur hockey before joining the NHL, winning the Allan Cup in 1930 with the Montreal AAA senior men's team.[2][3]
Kerr was most notable for his time with the New York Rangers. His four shutouts in a single playoff season in 1937 is a Rangers record (since tied by Mike Richter). In 1937-38, Kerr was selected to the NHL second All-Star team. Kerr won a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1939-40. That year, he won the Vezina Trophy for a Rangers team that led the league in goals allowed, and had a 19-game unbeaten streak (14-0-5). He was also selected to the NHL first All-Star team that year. As a Ranger, he only missed one game between 1934 and 1941, and started every game for five straight seasons (1936-1941).[4]
Kerr also was the NHL season leader in most games played by a goaltender (1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, and 1940–41), most shutouts (1937–38 and 1939–40), most playoff games played by a goaltender, most playoff minutes played by a goaltender, most playoff wins, most playoff shutouts, and lowest playoff goals-against average (all 1937 and 1940).[4]
Kerr was the second hockey player on the cover of Time magazine, doing so on the March 14, 1938 edition.[5][6]
Kerr was the fifth goalie to win 200 games in a career and retired with the fourth most wins (204) along with 8th in shutouts (51).[7]
Kerr died at the age of 68 on May 11, 1978 in a hospital in Belleville, Ontario after a long illness.[8]
Awards and achievements
- Allan Cup (1930)
- Vezina Trophy (1940)
- NHL first All-Star team goalie (1940)
- NHL second All-Star team goalie (1938)
- Stanley Cup (1940)
- In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Kerr at No. 19 all-time of the roughly 900 New York Rangers who had played during the first 83 seasons (1926–27 to 2008–09) of the franchise‘s existence.[9]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | Min | GA | SO | GAA | GP | W | L | T | Min | GA | SO | GAA | ||
| 1929–30 | Montreal AAA | MCHL | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 540 | 6 | 4 | 0.67 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 150 | 2 | 1 | 0.80 | ||
| 1929–30 | Montreal CPR | MCHL | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 540 | 10 | 3 | 1.11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 120 | 4 | 0 | 2.00 | ||
| 1929–30 | Montreal AAA | A-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 610 | 5 | 5 | 0.49 | ||
| 1930–31 | Montreal Maroons | NHL | 29 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 1769 | 70 | 1 | 2.37 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 120 | 8 | 0 | 4.00 | ||
| 1931–32 | Windsor Bulldogs | IHL | 34 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 2140 | 68 | 6 | 1.91 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1931–32 | New York Americans | NHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 60 | 6 | 0 | 6.00 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1932–33 | Montreal Maroons | NHL | 25 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 1520 | 58 | 4 | 2.29 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 120 | 5 | 0 | 2.50 | ||
| 1932–33 | Philadelphia Arrows | Can-Am | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1020 | 31 | 2 | 1.81 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1933–34 | Montreal Maroons | NHL | 48 | 19 | 18 | 11 | 3060 | 122 | 6 | 2.39 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 240 | 7 | 1 | 1.75 | ||
| 1934–35 | New York Rangers | NHL | 37 | 19 | 12 | 6 | 2990 | 94 | 4 | 2.46 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 240 | 10 | 0 | 2.50 | ||
| 1935–36 | New York Rangers | NHL | 47 | 18 | 17 | 12 | 2980 | 95 | 8 | 1.91 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1936–37 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 19 | 20 | 9 | 3020 | 106 | 4 | 2.11 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 553 | 10 | 4 | 1.08 | ||
| 1937–38 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 27 | 15 | 6 | 2960 | 96 | 8 | 1.95 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 262 | 8 | 0 | 1.83 | ||
| 1938–39 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 26 | 16 | 6 | 2970 | 105 | 6 | 2.12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 119 | 2 | 0 | 1.01 | ||
| 1939–40 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 27 | 11 | 10 | 3000 | 77 | 8 | 1.54 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 770 | 20 | 3 | 1.56 | ||
| 1940–41 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 21 | 19 | 8 | 3010 | 125 | 2 | 2.49 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 192 | 6 | 0 | 1.88 | ||
| NHL totals | 427 | 203 | 148 | 75 | 26,139 | 954 | 51 | 2.15 | 40 | 18 | 19 | 3 | 2616 | 76 | 8 | 1.74 | ||||
References
- ^ "Dave Kerr". Hockeyreference.com. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
- ^ "Montreal AAA 1929-1930". Elite Hockey Prospects. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
- ^ "Allan Cup Archives". allancup.ca. April 23, 2013.
- ^ "Dave Kerr". New York Ranger. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
- ^ Kreiser, John & Friedman, Lou (1996). The New York Rangers: Broadway's Longest Running Hit. Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-1-58261-080-1.
- ^ https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19380314,00.html
- ^ "For combined seasons, up to 1940-41, playing goalie, in the regular season, sorted by descending Wins.". Stathead. Retrieved February 25, 2026.
- ^ Harvin, Al (May 13, 1978). "DAVE KERR,68,DIES; GOALIE FOR RANGERS". New York Times
- ^ Cohen, Russ; Halligan, John; Raider, Adam (2009). 100 Ranger Greats: Superstars, Unsung Heroes and Colorful Characters. John Wiley & Sons. p. 174. ISBN 978-0470736197.