Background
Born in Glasgow, Aitkenhead came to Canada as a young child with his family, and grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Born in Glasgow, Aitkenhead came to Canada as a young child with his family, and grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Originally taken by the Rangers in the Inter-league draft from the Saskatoon Shieks in 1928, his rights were sent back and forth between the Rangers and the Portland Buckaroos of the PCHL, until he finally signed with the Rangers as a free agent in 1931. He made his debut for the Rangers on November 10, 1932 at the Montreal Forum against the Montreal Maroons. In his first two seasons in New York, Aitkenhead played in every single game for the Rangers, and he put up solid numbers.
In his first season in New York, Aitkenhead was fourth in the league in goals against average, as well as fourth in wins.
He posted a shutout in the clinching game, in overtime, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The following season, Aitkenhead finished fifth overall in goals against, yet second in wins, and third in shutouts, however the Rangers were eliminated by the Maroons in the opening round of the playoffs.
In 1935 Aitkenhead struggled, and eventually lost the starting job to Dave Kerr. He played only 10 games that season.
Kerr later said that Aitkenhead"s obsession with his game were what got to him, and led to his departure from the National Hockey League. After 1935 Andy Aitkenhead was returned to the minor leagues.
Aitkenhead spent 6 seasons with the Portland Buckaroos of the PCHL before retiring from hockey in 1941. In the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons, 2009) by Russian Cohen, John Halligan and Adam Raider, the authors ranked Aitkenhead Number. 97 on the all-time list of New York Rangers.
He was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.
Wore Uniform #1 for the New York Rangers. He was known as "The Glasgow Gobbler".