Background
Born in Aurora, Minnesota, he grew up in nearby Eveleth.
Born in Aurora, Minnesota, he grew up in nearby Eveleth.
Karakas played six full seasons and parts of two others with Chicago Black Hawks. Growing up, Karakas and Frank Brimsek, who also became a goaltender in the National Hockey League, were battery mates for their high school baseball team, with Karakas catching. Karakas played six full seasons for the Chicago Black Hawks between 1936 and 1945.
Karakas was only invited to play for the Black Hawks because their regular goaltender, Lorne Chabot, was injured.
After posting four wins in four games, with three shutouts, the Black Hawks made Karakas their starting goaltender. Chabot was later traded to the Montreal Maroons.
Foreign the 1937-1938 Chicago Black Hawks season, their owner, Major Frederic McLaughlin, order his general manager to "ice a team of all American players." After losing five of its six first games with an all-American roster, some Canadian players were added. However, the team finished the season with an 14–25–9 record for a.411 winning percentage.
The Black Hawks were forced to substitute Alfie Moore for Karakas in the first game.
After the first game, Moore was ruled ineligible, and the Black Hawks lost the next game. Overall in that playoff run, Karakas had a 6–2 record, with two shutouts and a 1.71 goals-against-average. The owners refused the raise, and for the next five seasons Karakas played three full seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL), and split two between the AHL and the National Hockey League. Karakas had 28 shutouts in the regular season, and another three in the playoffs in his six seasons in the National Hockey League. In each of the six full seasons in which Karakas appeared, he played all 48 games.
Selected to the American Heart Association First All-Star Team in 1935. Calder Memorial Trophy winner in 1936. Stanley Cup champion in 1938. Calder Cup champion in 1940. Selected to the AHL First All-Star Team in 1941. Selected to the AHL Second All-Star Team in 1943. Selected to the National Hockey League Second All-Star Team in 1945. Inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973.
Karakas is one of the original members of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1973, Karakas was named as an original member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, located in his hometown of Eveleth.
