Bauer was the right wing on the Boston Bruins' famed "Kraut Line," along with center Milt Schmidt and left wing Woody Dumart. He was a member of Boston's Stanley Cup-winning teams in 1939 and 1941 and was a four-time NHL Second-Team All-Star during a career that was limited to seven seasons by World War II and a shoulder injury.

The native of Waterloo, Ontario, grew up playing hockey on a backyard rink before moving to Toronto in 1930. He helped the St. Michael's Majors win the Memorial Cup in 1934, then played his final season of junior hockey in 1934-35 with Kitchener, where he first played with Schmidt and Dumart (then a defenseman).

The Bruins signed all three players, and they were put together as a line at Providence of the International League in 1936-37. Bauer earned a one-game callup at the end of that season before all three became full-time NHL players in 1937-38. He led the Bruins with 20 goals in his rookie season, then helped them end a 10-year championship drought by winning the Stanley Cup in 1939, when he was also voted as a Second-Team All-Star for the first of three straight seasons.

In 1939-40, Bauer finished third in the NHL in scoring with 43 points (17 goals, 26 assists), behind only his linemates Dumart and Schmidt. He also won the Lady Byng Trophy for skillful and gentlemanly play after taking just two minor penalties in 48 games.

Bauer was a Second-Team All-Star and won the Lady Byng again in 1940-41, capping the season by scoring the Cup-winning goal to help the Bruins win their second championship in three years with a sweep of the Detroit Red Wings in the Final.

After putting up 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists), in 36 games with the Bruins in 1941-42, Bauer put his hockey career on hold when he, Schmidt and Dumart joined the Royal Canadian Air Force late in the season. He returned to the NHL in 1945, helped the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup Final in 1946 and became a 30-goal scorer for the first time in 1946-47, when he was voted a Second-Team All-Star for the fourth and final time and won the Lady Byng for the third time.

Bauer retired from the NHL in 1947, though he returned for a one-game cameo on March 18, 1952, and had a goal and an assist, giving him 259 points (123 goals, 136 assists) in 327 games.

But his involvement with hockey was far from done. He became a successful coach at the senior level, guiding Kitchener-Waterloo to two Allan Cup championships, and coached Canada to a bronze medal at the 1956 Cortina Olympics and a silver at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics. He also was instrumental in the formation of a Canadian national team to represent the country at international events.

Bauer was 49 when he died of a heart attack on Sept. 16, 1964. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996.