BIRTHPLACE: St. Paul, Minn.

BORN: October 19, 1895

DIED: January 11, 1978

TEAMS/ASSOCIATIONS: St. Paul Athletic Club, St. Paul Saints

Tony Conroy was part of the great St. Paul hockey tradition that is so entwined with the names of Goheen, Fitzgerald, and Weidenborner.  He starred with these men through the glory years of the St. Paul Athletic Club and later with the professional St. Paul Saints of the American Hockey Association.  After attending Mechanic Arts High School, he went on to play at St. Thomas College.  While still in high school the young Conroy even played with the old semi-pro St. Paul Phoenix septet. 

Joining the Athletic Club team, the St. Paul skater helped his club win the McNaughton Trophy, symbolic of American amateur hockey supremacy, in 1917. The team then played Lachine, Quebec, for the Ross Cup International Championship and won 7-6, despite having to play six-man hockey for the first time.  After W.W.I service, Conroy returned to the Athletic Club and was one of four members of that club to make the 1920 United States Olympic Team.  The U.S. finished second to Canada, losing 2-0 to the Maple Leaf skaters for their only defeat. Conroy had a strong Olympics and scored 10 goals in a 29-0 rout of Switzerland.

The speedy back-checker played great hockey for the St. Paul club in the 1920s as they were always strong contenders for the national amateur title.  The team was Western champs in 1922 and again in 1923, losing both times to Boston in the national finals.  The team eventually became professional and Conroy received NHL offers, but preferred to remain in St. Paul.