Bill Taugher

Kingston, Ontario's Bill Taugher was a long time goaltending hero with the Buffalo Bisons of the IHL in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Though details are very sketchy, it appears he also played a single NHL game really early in his game. I say appear because not every source credits him for 60 minutes played with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1925-26 season. Those that do agree he surrendered three goals in a loss.

Which game that would have been remains a mystery though. My search suggests Herb Rheaume and Alphonse Lacroix played in the Habs net in the season following the loss of Georges Vezina.

Taugher may have been an emergency replacement. In the 1925-26 season Taugher was playing junior with the Kingston Frontenacs. In fact, Taugher helped Kingston reach the Memorial Cup finals that year.

He signed pro with Hamilton Tigers of the Can-Pro league. Two years later he signed on with the Buffalo Bisons where he starred for 7 seasons. He wound up his career with a season split between Rochester and Cleveland, both of the IHL as well.

Life was not all fun and games for Taugher. He suffered a back injury vs London (IHL) on March 20, 1936 that left him paralyzed. He actually resumed walking in 1942, but his health failed him again in the fall. He required brain surgery. The Society for International Hockey Research suggests the brain injury may have been from an old hockey injury. The Windsor Daily Star newspaper archives suggest it was from a puck to the head some fourteen years earlier.

Whether it was or not remains a mystery to me at this time, but I do know a few months later, on February 25, 1943, Bill Taugher passed away from complications of a brain tumor. Whether the two brain injuries were related or actually one also remains a mystery to me.