Suomi\'s sole season with the National Hockey League came as a result of another marketing ploy, this time on the part of the Chicago Black Hawks. Having benched all of his Canadian players, the manager declared his intent to field a team composed entirely of American players. Suomi was selected from among a pool of novice players to join the team but, after five games, the gimmick was disbanded and replaced with professionals. Retiring from hockey in 1940, he took on a series of small jobs before opening his own hardware store in Chicago. As of 2007, Suomi was the last surviving member of the 1936–37 all-American Chicago Black Hawks team and, following the 2010 death of Louis Holmes, the oldest living former NHL player. He is also believed to be the first former NHL player to reach the age of 100.\n', '

Suomi was born to a working-class family in Eveleth, Minnesota on October 29, 1913. His father was an immigrant from Finland. Although Suomi never had any serious aspirations to play professional ice hockey, he nevertheless began practicing at local rinks at an early age, focusing on his talents as a left winger. As a teenager, he played at both the high school and college level. His brother, John Suomi, played minor league hockey in Virginia. In 1934, during the Great Depression, he and two of his friends were approached by scout Jack Manley, who offered them a chance to play professional hockey in Chicago. With only one hour to catch the bus to Minneapolis, Minnesota, Suomi decided that he had nothing to lose and took his belongings in a cardboard box with him to the bus station.\n', '

For the 1934–35 season, Suomi was a member of the Chicago Baby Ruth team of the United States Amateur Hockey Association league, participating in two playoff games and scoring a total of two goals. The team was designed as a marketing gimmick for the Curtis Candy Company, and played before all of the Chicago Black Hawk games in order to increase their attendance. While Suomi made the team, his two friends were rejected and they returned to Minnesota. For the next season, from 1935–36, he was called to Michigan and joined the Detroit Tool Shop of the Michigan-Ontario Hockey League. He was offered an opportunity to try out for the 1936 Olympic ice hockey team for the United States, but his past association led him to be rejected for being too professional. He played 17 regular season games for the Detroit Tool Shop, scoring eight goals and five assists for a total of 13 points. During the regular season, he had six penalty minutes. In addition, he played in four playoff games, scoring one assist.\n', '

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