Francis (Frank) Goheen, who was born in St. Paul, was nicknamed "Moose" although he never weighed over 175 pounds.
As a hard-hitting defenseman, he played competitive hockey from 1914 through 1934 with the St. Paul Athletic Club. The St. Paul Athletic Club won the McNaughton Trophy (the top team in the U.S.) three times (1916, 1917 and 1920) during that time.
Goheen played on the U.S. team in the 1920 Olympics. According to an Associated Press story in 1979, Goheen said his fondest hockey memory was the 1920 Olympics, which were held in Antwerp, Belgium. The U.S. team lost to Canada, 2-1, in the championship game.
Goheen never competed in the NHL, but he was recognized as one of the best hockey players in the world during his prime. He rejected offers from three NHL teams, during a time when there few Americans playing in the NHL, because he didn't want to leave his job security in Minnesota.
"He had an excellent job with Northern States Power Co. at the time and turned them down," Roger Godin, director of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, told the Associated Press in 1979. "The NHL was in its beginnings and the money probably was not comparable to what it was in outside opportunities."
After declining the NHL offers, Goheen did play professionally with the St. Paul Saints hockey club for parts of seven seasons.
Legendary Minneapolis sports writer Halsey Hall once wrote of Goheen, "Nothing in sports could ever beat the sight of Moose Goheen taking the puck, circling behind his own net, and then taking off down that rink, leaping over sticks along the way."
He is a member of both the Hockey Hall of Fame in Canada and U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. At the time of his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1952, he was only the second American to be so honored. He is the only player in the Hall of Fame who never played in the National Hockey League.
FRANK (MOOSE) GOHEEN
Class: 1958.
Sport: Hockey.
Team: St. Paul Athletic Club, U.S. Olympic team.