27 “The O.H.A.’s Fine Record,” Toronto Globe, March 14, 1905.
28 “Snap Shots on Sport,” Toronto Telegram, February 19, 1904.
29 “Stanley Cup Holders Outclass Marlboros,” Toronto Telegram, February 19, 1904.
30 Hewitt, Down the Stretch, p. 189.
31 Eric Zweig has pointed out to me that “there were lots of stories after the first Rat Portage-Ottawa Stanley Cup game in 1905 that the ice was salted before game two. It is therefore very possible Hewitt was just mixing up these events all those years ago.” Still, the partisanship of Hewitt’s Star for the Marlboros is beyond doubt.
32 See “President Robertson’s Note,” Toronto Globe, November 5, 1904. This was written before the annual meeting, no doubt to undermine the campaign of his lesser-known rival. Robertson did, however, present the same theory in his presidential address a month later.
33 Ibid.
CHAPTER FOUR: THE ROAD TO WAR
1 “Pure Amateurism in O.H.A. the Main Theme,” Toronto Star, December 3, 1904.
2 See Eric Whitehead, Cyclone Taylor, 1977, p. 31. The author says that the calls between Hewitt and Taylor began in October 1903. If that is so, then Hewitt had been in touch with Taylor for a year.
3 Whitehead, pp. 32–33.
4 A recent high-profile rendition of the story can be found in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation–sponsored work by Michael McKinley, Hockey: A People’s History (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2006), pp. 39–41.
5 Eric Zweig, “Setting Cyclone’s Story Straight,” Hockey Research Journal, vol. 11 (2007), pp. 47–50.
6 See W. A. Hewitt, Down the Stretch (Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1958), p. 214. Hewitt did, however, vividly remember Taylor’s professional career and considered him one of the greatest players of all time.
7 “The O.H.A. Convention,” Toronto Globe, December 5, 1904.
8 For examples of this label, see “Puckerings,” Toronto Globe, December 11, 1907, and “Bruce Ridpath’s Trip Abroad,” Toronto Star, December 11, 1907.
9 “The Marlboros Have a Good Lead,” Toronto News, February 20, 1905.
10 “A Good Hockey Season,” Toronto News, November 11, 1905.
11 Ibid.
12 Hewitt, Down the Stretch, p. 186.
13 “A Good Hockey Season,” Toronto News, November 11, 1905.
14 This is taken from Paul Kitchen, Win, Tie, or Wrangle (Manotick, ON: Penumbra, 2008), p. 133.
15 “Is the O.H.A. a Purely Philanthropic Body?” Toronto News, January 30, 1906.
16 Ibid.
17 “Darroch and Rowe Case,” Toronto Telegram, March 20, 1906.
18 “Injunction Made Permanent,” Toronto Globe, February 22, 1906.
19 “Last Stages of Hockey,” Toronto Telegram, March 26, 1906.
20 The Tely cited the London Free Press to advance its argument. See “New Ontario Ambitions,” Toronto Telegram, March 9, 1906.
21 “Jack at Play,” Toronto Globe, March 8, 1906.
22 See Don Morrow, “A Case Study in Amateur Conflict: The Athletic War in Canada 1906–08” in British Journal of Sports History, Volume 3, September 1986, p. 178.
23 “The O.H.A. Convention.”
CHAPTER FIVE: THE REBELLION BEGINS
1 “Snap Shots on Sport,” Toronto Telegram, December 1, 1906.
2 This is taken from Kitchen, Win, Tie, or Wrangle, p. 152.
3 The ECAHA would require its clubs to publish the names of their professional players. Whether these lists were entirely accurate or not, it did show that there was still some discomfort with professionalism even among the managers who were now openly embracing it.
4 “Pro. Idea in Canada,” Toronto Telegram, January 30, 1907.
5 “The O.H.A. Annual,” Toronto Globe, November 17, 1906.
6 “Jack at Play,” Toronto Globe, November 17, 1906.
7 Although Spanner appears in the team picture of 1906–07, I have never found a single reference to him in news reports that season.
8 “Can Be Nominated for Only One Office in O.H.A.,” Toronto News, October 31, 1905.
9 This is inferred from Miln’s membership in the Albany Club.
10 “Mutual Street Ice Surface,” Toronto Star, February 19, 1906.
11 Some in Toronto, even then, were suggesting the climate was warming, thus necessitating an artificial-ice rink. See the following, written during an unusually mild period after New Year’s: “Will Toronto Have an Artificial Ice Rink?” Toronto News, January 3, 1906.
12 “Odds and Ends of Current Sport,” Toronto Star, November 22, 1906.
13 “Snap Shots on Sport.”
14 “Canadian Soo and Torontos,” Toronto Globe, December 28, 1906.
CHAPTER SIX: THE UPRISING SPREADS
1 “Guelph 9, Toronto 4,” Guelph Mercury, January 31, 1907.
2 Kevin Slater, The Trolley League, Online Publications, p. 198.
3 Many rinks provided musical entertainment by bands—usually military bands—during interludes. However, this does not seem to have been the case for the Toronto Professionals’ home games at the Mutual Street Rink.
4 “Canadian ‘Soo’ Blanked Torontos,” Toronto Mail and Empire, December 29, 1906.
5 “Canadian Soo Blanked Locals,” Toronto Star, December 29, 1906.
6 The Star cited the London Advertiser to make its point. See “Latest Hockey Notes From Star Exchanges,” Toronto Star, January 3, 1907.
7 The terms “American Soo” and “Michigan Soo” were used interchangeably, the latter being more common. However, the “Canadian Soo” club appears to have never been called the “Ontario Soo.”
8 The nickname “Wolverines” was the term used by the local newspaper, the Soo Evening News, for the American Soo team of the International Hockey League, although “Indians” (which I have not seen at the time) is used in more modern references. See Daniel Scott Mason, “The Origins and Development of the International Hockey League and its Effects on the Sport of Professional Ice Hockey in North America,” M.A. Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1994, p. 75.
9 “Young the Star of a Great Game,” Toronto News, January 18, 1907.
10 “Toronto Pros. Beat Soo,” Toronto Globe, January 18, 1907.
11 Rat Portage had changed its name to Kenora in 1905.
12 It should be noted that the Winnipeg Victorias’ trip to Toronto in February 1895 was not actually part of a quest for the Stanley Cup, but rather just an exhibition tour. Their first Stanley Cup trip east occurred in February 1896, during which they defeated the Montreal Victorias for the championship.
13 “Kenora To-morrow Night,” Toronto Mail and Empire, January 24, 1907.
14 It should be noted that the Thistles played their home games on an undersized rink in Kenora, so this experience was not new to them. However, their speed was obviously more suited to a larger ice surface.
15 “Guelph 9, Toronto 4.”
16 “Smoky City Team Beaten by Locals,” Toronto Mail and Empire, February 5, 1907.
17 It should be noted that this intervention by the trustees was unprecedented. Until the Thistle–Wanderer series, the trustees had satisfied themselves with simply judging the qualifications of challengers. Once a challenge was accepted, they generally left the details of the arrangements to the clubs themselves. By beginning to intervene on player eligibility, Ross and Foran were indicating they still held some reservations about professionalism, at least at its extremes. However, I would observe that such rulings on this occasion and in the future only seemed to work against challengers from outside the Montreal–Ottawa hockey power corridor.
18 “Dutchmen Beat the Local Pros.,” Toronto News, March 2, 1907.
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE PROS ON THE MARCH
1 “Snap Shots on Sport,” Toronto Telegram, December 4, 1907.
2 “Fastest Marathon Ever Run Won By Longboat: Record Clipped by Indian Youth,” Boston Globe, April 20, 1907.
3 See “Snap Shots on Sport,” Toronto Telegram, January 15, 19
08. References to Longboat’s aboriginal ethnicity were routine. As his heroic status wore off, they descended into racial slurs.
4 “Temporary Truce is Declared for Next Year’s Olympic Games,” Toronto Star, December 2, 1907.
5 “President Discusses Football Once More,” San Francisco Call, December 5, 1905.
6 The relative passivity regarding sports violence shown by authorities in Canada versus the United States is perplexing—as is the wider sports culture. The Canadian national winter and summer sports are hockey and lacrosse, while their American counterparts are basketball and baseball. How do we explain the violent and chaotic favourite sports of the “peaceable kingdom” and the serene and orderly ones of the “revolutionary republic”? Preston Manning told me many years ago that he thought this made perfect sense, saying, “People engage in sports as leisure, as a break, so wouldn’t we expect a society’s preferences to be the opposite of its character?”
7 Poulton, The Paper Tyrant, p. 131.
8 Poulton, pp. 126–130.
9 The OPHL executive consisted of the league officers and a delegate from each club. Toronto’s delegate was one J. C. Palmer. We have found no definitive information on this man, but suspect he was the son of the owner of the Mutual Street Rink, J. J. Palmer.
10 “Clubs are Clamoring for Space at Mutual St. Rink,” Toronto News, November 14, 1907.
11 “Snap Shots on Sport,” Toronto Telegram, December 4, 1907.
12 Although it had a slender OHA record, the Simcoe Hockey Club of Toronto had long been the home club of John Ross Robertson. As previously noted, when he was a boy, the president had called his neighbourhood shinny team the Simcoes. It is unclear whether it was named after his hero John Graves Simcoe, first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada (Ontario), or Simcoe Street, where the Robertson family home was located. Interestingly, the club of which Marriott was manager counted both Robertson and Alexander Miln among its patrons. See Ron Poulton, The Paper Tyrant, p. 16.
13 “Edward Hanlan,” Toronto Globe, January 4, 1908.
14 “Hockey on Bare Floor,” Toronto News, January 6, 1908.
15 “Berlin Wins Great Game from Torontos—Score 3 to 0,” Toronto World, January 6, 1908.
16 I have chosen to use the term “Braves” as the moniker for Roy Brown’s team. However, unlike the Dutchmen of Berlin and the Royals of Guelph, no nickname seems to have consistently attached to Brantford’s professional hockey club. Although “Indians” has been used in various OPHL histories, I have never seen the term in contemporary reporting. Conversely, Braves, Brants, Mohawks, Dykers and the generic Professionals all appeared. For this use of Braves (though without a capital), see “Brants. Beat Dutch.,” Toronto Telegram, January 8, 1909. For similar uses in the Brantford papers, see Kevin Slater, Trolley League, pp. 96 and 273.
17 “Torontos Again Down,” Toronto Telegram, January 11, 1908.
18 Some, though not all, game reports list Toronto’s point man as “Gamble.” This player was clearly Lambe, whose name somehow became scrambled after an added “G.”
19 “Guelph Defeated 4–3 in Sensational Game,” Guelph Mercury, January 14, 1908.
CHAPTER EIGHT: A BRUSH WITH ETERNITY
1 “Remarked on the Side,” Toronto Telegram, March 5, 1908.
2 “Guelph Lost to Toronto in a Poor Exhibition,” Guelph Mercury, January 20, 1908.
3 Ibid.
4 “Berlin Here To-morrow,” Toronto Mail and Empire, February 14, 1908.
5 “Toronto Pros Beat Berlin,” Toronto World, February 17, 1908.
6 “Toronto Pros. Careless,” Toronto Telegram, February 24, 1908.
7 “Torontos Walloped Berlin,” Toronto Globe, February 26, 1908.
8 Ibid.
9 “Dutchmen Were Easy for Toronto ‘Pros.’ Last Night,” Toronto Star, February 26, 1908.
10 “The Little German Band No Match for Torontos,” Toronto News, February 26, 1908.
11 “Brantford ‘Pro’ Team was Easy for the Fast Torontos,” Toronto Star, March 2, 1908.
12 Foran had been appointed as a trustee by Ross to succeed his original partner, Sheriff John Sweetland, who stepped down in early 1907 due to ill health.
13 “Stanley Cup Trustees Issue Statement,” Toronto Telegram, February 29, 1908.
14 It is interesting to note that the Wanderers did not protest either Lalonde or Corbeau. Although they had also played for other clubs during the season, they had not played against ECAHA teams. This would imply that the trustees’ ban, which was reported to be against all who had performed for more than one team, was actually much narrower. It was likely only against players who had already performed in a series involving the Stanley Cup champions. It also explains why Miln had no hesitancy in signing particular new players to the Toronto Professionals after the ban was announced.
15 “Remarked on the Side.”
16 “May Surrender Cup,” Montreal Gazette, March 12, 1908.
17 “N-E-X-T!” Montreal Star, March 13, 1908.
18 “Will Only Play One Cup Game,” Toronto Mail and Empire, March 14, 1908.
19 “Wanderers Held on to the Stanley Cup in Rough and Ready Match,” Montreal Star, March 16, 1908.
20 “Torontos Almost Lift Stanley Cup,” Toronto Mail and Empire, March 16, 1908.
CHAPTER NINE: THE PROS IN RETREAT
1 “Guelph Defeats Toronto Before Saying Good-Bye,” Toronto News, January 21, 1909.
2 “Snap Shots on Sport,” Toronto Telegram, March 16, 1908.
3 “Wanderers Held on to the Stanley Cup in Rough and Ready Match,” Montreal Star, March 16, 1908.
4 “Close Call for Champions and Cup,” Montreal Gazette, March 16, 1908.
5 “Opinions on the Game,” Toronto Mail and Empire, March 17, 1908.
6 Ibid.
7 “A Burlesque at Guelph,” Toronto Globe, March 23, 1908.
8 “ ‘Pro’ Rough House at the Royal City,” Toronto Star, March 23, 1908.
9 “A Burlesque at Guelph.”
10 “The Last Game of the Season and the Worst by Long Odds,” Guelph Mercury, March 23, 1908.
11 “Legacy of the 1908 Olympics involves a Canadian connection,” Matthew Fisher, National Post, July 31, 2012.
12 “Editorial Notes,” Galt Reporter, January 25, 1908.
13 “Alex. Miln’s Team Now Ready,” Toronto News, December 22, 1908.
14 “Ottawa Not Invincible,” Toronto Globe, January 4, 1909.
15 “Kerr is Protested,” Toronto News, January 6, 1909.
16 “Berlin Beat Toronto,” Toronto Globe, January 6, 1909.
17 “Guelph Here To-Night,” Toronto Globe, January 9, 1909.
18 See “Torontos Won Easily,” Toronto Mail and Empire, January 11, 1909. This report, like others around this time, indicated that Morrison’s return was imminent.
19 Although no nickname has been applied to the Galt professional hockey club in various OPHL histories, the term “Irving’s Indians” was consistently used during 1908–09. It had also been occasionally used to describe Buck’s organization in Guelph the previous season. However, there are some indications that the term “Indians” was genuinely employed as the unofficial moniker for the Galt team, at least in the Toronto papers. See “Hard to Keep Men Together,” Toronto News, January 20, 1909, and “Gossip of the Pro. Hockey Players,” Toronto Star, January 21, 1909, as well as “Irving’s Indians Invincible,” Galt Reporter, February 26, 1909.
20 “Galt Win by 5 to 4 Over Toronto Pros,” Toronto World, January 14, 1909.
21 “Snap Shots on Sport,” Toronto Telegram, January 14, 1909.
22 Again, no nickname has been applied by historians to the St. Kitts team that played in the OPHL in 1908–09. I have used the term “Athletics” because this was the name of the lacrosse club that founded the local pro team late in the previous season. However, St. Catharines papers are very spotty during the period in which the organization belonged to the league. It is thus hard to know whether this or a
ny other term took hold locally.
23 Some, though not all, reports of the Torontos’ game at St. Catharines record Fred Young’s name as “Borden.” These are clearly one and the same person, yet there is no readily apparent explanation for the confusion.
24 “Observations on Current Sport,” Toronto Star, January 15, 1909.
25 “Toronto Pros. Lose a Hard Luck Game to the Germans,” Toronto Star, January 19, 1909.
26 “Torontos Outplay Berlin but Lose,” Toronto Mail and Empire, January 19, 1909.
27 “Guelph Defeats Toronto Before Saying Good-Bye.”
CHAPTER TEN: THE TRIUMPH OF THE AMATEURS
1 “Snap Shots on Sport,” Toronto Telegram, November 23, 1909.
2 “Puckerings,” Toronto Globe, January 21, 1909.
3 “Pros. Hated to Leave,” Toronto News, February 9, 1909.
4 “Torontos in Great Form Easily Vanquish Galt,” Toronto News, January 28, 1909.
5 “Torontos Beat the Leaders, Brants Swept off Feet,” Toronto Telegram, February 1, 1909.
6 “Torontos Downed the Brantfords,” Toronto Mail and Empire, February 1, 1909.
7 It had been agreed that the tied game between Brantford and Galt on January 5 would be played off before the end of the season. It is thus excluded at this point.
8 “Berlin Doubled Toronto’s Score,” Toronto Mail and Empire, February 2, 1909.
9 “Lack of Team Work Causes Downfall of Toronto Pros.,” Toronto News, February 2, 1909.
10 Ibid.
11 “Galt Easy for Toronto Pros,” Toronto Star, February 5, 1909.
12 “Torontos Trim Galt,” Toronto World, February 5, 1909.
13 “Toronto Pros. Lose a Hard Luck Game to the Germans,” Toronto Star, January 19, 1909.
14 “Snap Shots on Sport,” Toronto Telegram, February 8, 1909.
15 There is some uncertainty about who played left wing for the Toronto Professionals in the London exhibition. The limited extant reports of the contest list the man as “Carl.” However, no player by this name is known to have performed anywhere in this region during this era. The available evidence suggests that this was the first OPHL-circuit game for Jimmy “Kid” Mallen. Mallen would have been completely unknown to local reporters, who had initially thought that Bruce Ridpath might be playing for the Torontos.
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