Bun Cook

Frederick Joseph “Bun” Cook was born on September 18, 1903, in Kingston, Ontario, the second of three brothers. He followed his older brother Bill to teams throughout his career, despite an eight-year age gap.

Cook began senior hockey with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 1921 and was part of their 1924 Allan Cup-winning squad. He turned professional that same year, signing with the Saskatoon Crescents of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), where Bill already played and housed him.

Playing career

After two seasons in the WCHL—scoring 17 goals in 28 games and then eight in 30—the league folded. The Montreal Maroons planned to sign both Cook brothers, but New York Rangers manager Conn Smythe beat them to it, traveling to Winnipeg to secure the pair for $12,000. The brothers then convinced Smythe to sign Frank Boucher, and the three became the “Bread Line,” one of the NHL’s top scoring units.

Cook assisted on the first goal in Rangers history, scored by Bill in a 1–0 win on November 16, 1926. He earned the nickname “Bun” from a journalist who said he was “quick as a bunny.” That season, Cook posted 23 points in 44 games, then improved to 28 points in 1927–28, leading the Rangers with 14 assists. The Bread Line scored every Rangers goal in the 1928 Stanley Cup Final, and New York beat the Montreal Maroons to win its first championship.

Cook’s scoring dipped to 18 points in 1928–29, and the Rangers lost the 1929 Final to Boston. His best statistical season came in 1929–30, when he finished tenth in the NHL with 24 goals and totaled 43 points in 44 games. After a 35-point season in 1930–31, he was named a second-team All-Star.

The Rangers reached the 1932 Final but lost to Toronto. In 1932–33, Cook’s 22 goals ranked fourth in the league, and his 37 points were seventh. The Rangers returned to the Final, and in the deciding fourth game, Bill scored the overtime winner for a 1–0 victory and the team’s second Stanley Cup. Cook recorded 33 points in 1933–34 and 34 in 1934–35, but an arthritic condition limited him in 1935–36.

Believing he wouldn’t recover, the Rangers sold him to Boston, breaking up the Bread Line after nine seasons. He played 40 games for the Bruins in 1936–37, his final NHL season, scoring nine points. Over 531 professional games, he had 183 goals and 335 points.