Spokane Jet, two-time Allan Cup champ Charlie Goodwin dies at 88

Charlie Goodwin, a popular player during Spokane’s first two Allan Cup hockey championships, died June 25 in Spokane Valley. He was 88.

Goodwin played on the 1969-70 and 1971-72 Spokane Jets, the first United States teams to win the Allan Cup, emblematic of senior amateur supremacy in Canada.

Judy Goodwin, Charlie’s wife of 61 years, said her husband died of lymphoma, a blood cancer. Charlie also suffered from dementia in his later years.

“He never forgot hockey … and he didn’t forget me at all,” Judy said. “He’d always say, ‘I love you.’ ”

Judy said she met Charlie on a blind date in Spokane in 1965. Judy said they had their first date Feb. 1, became engaged March 1 and married March 29.

“We had to wait (to marry) until the hockey season was over,” Judy recalled.

Listed at just 5-feet-6 and 155 pounds, Goodwin was a reliable scorer on the Jets for several years. The left winger scored approximately 25 goals and 64 points (statistical records vary) on the first Jets team, the regular-season champions of the Western International Hockey League in 1963-64. WIHL teams played 48-game schedules at the time.

A longtime resident of the Spokane Valley – before and after the city of that name was incorporated – Goodwin coached Spokane’s Junior B (20-and-under) hockey team in 1974-75 and 1975-76.

Goodwin, born and raised in various cities in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, is survived by wife Judy, sons Charlie II and Jeff, four grandchildren and five of his nine siblings. At Goodwin’s request, no services will be held.