1921-22 Three Musketeers, Two Cleghorns, And One Bad News Newsy

George Kendall Kennedy, the man behind the Club Athlétique Canadien's purchase of the Montreal Canadiens franchise in 1910 passed away in his home on the morning of Wednesday, October 19, 1921. His death was attributed to the long illness brought on by the after effects of the influenza virus that he contacted in 1919 while Canadiens were out west in Seattle challenging for the Stanley Cup.

According to local papers, a long list of friends and sporting figures were present, and they included T. P. Gorman of Ottawa, Dider Pitre, Odie Cleghorn, Sam Lichtenhein, Nap Dorval, Lucien Riopel, Cecil M. Hart, Dr. J. P. Gadbois, Oscar Benoit, Emmett Quinn, Frank Calder, Cooper Smeaton and many others.

KENDALL KEPT CANADIENS AFLOAT

Though his real surname was Kendall, he began using the name Kennedy, his mother's maiden name, so that he could persue wrestling without his disapproving father being any wiser. Born of Scottish decent, he became one of the better known promoters in North America. After building a reputation in lacrosse and wresting, he set his sights on hockey and founded the Canadiens along with five other businessmen in 1910. Along with Frank Calder, Sam Lichtenhein, Mike Quinn and T.P. Gorman, he is one of five founding fathers of the NHL.

Oddly, Kendall is not a member of the Hockey Hall Of Fame, even though both the Canadiens and the NHL owe him a great debt for his efforts in keeping the team and the game growing through the first world war.

After his death, and within weeks of the 1921-22 season, someone had to assume control of the team, and the task was handed to Kendall's brother Frank. Offers came forth from groups wishing to purchase the Canadiens and the first was tendered by Mount Royal Arena owner Tom Duggan who made a $10,000 bid. Montreal businessmen Leo Dandurand, Louis Létourneau, and former player and manager Jos Cattarinich were also heavily interested, but were unable to be in Montreal due to committments at their Cleveland race track. The trio engaged Cecil Hart to make the offers in their name, and on November 4, 1921, the trio officially purchased the team from Kendall's widow for the sum of $11,000.

Dandurand would become the most public of the three figures soon to be known as the Three Musketeers. He would both manage and coach the Canadiens, while Cecil Hart would come on board as one of the team's directors. Following their first season, the three owners would recoup their initial investment, making a profit upwards of $20,000.

THE SPRAGUE CLEGHORN SIDESHOW BEGINS

The new manager and coach set about sturdying the Canadiens aging lineup and made an important aquisition that would impact the team for quite some time. A mere three weeks after taking charge, Dandurand sent Harry Mummery and Amos Arbour to Hamilton for defenseman Sprague Cleghorn, whose brother Odie had played wing for the Canadiens for three seasons running.

The elder Cleghorn, a much feared and despised competitior, had a large say in consecutive Stanley Cups with Ottawa in 1920 and 1921. He'd bring the same tenacity and mean spirit to Montreal after his rights were traded back to the same Tigers team he refused to report to previously.

Dandurand worked hard to gain Cleghorn, buying out his suspended contract following his refusal to go to Hamilton. One snag out of the way, Dandurand made his offer and Hamilton could not refuse.

Just prior to the Cleghorn trade, Montreal welcomed Billy Coutu back from a one year loaning to the Tigers. Together the pair teamed up to form one of the most vicious defensive duos hockey had known.

Not only would Sprague be a feared backline componant, but he also led the Canadiens in scoring with 17 goals and 9 assists. Brother Odie was right behind with 21 goals and 3 helpers.

During the 1921-22 season, Cleghorn seemed intent on settling a score with the Ottawa Senators and certain members of the team. Possibly upset at being released by the Cup champions on two occasions, he enacted his vengeance with his stick and fists in a game on February 1. Winning the game seemed the last thing on Sprague Cleghorn's mind as he injured no less than 3 Senator players in a single game. He badly sliced Eddie Girard and Cy Denneny with his stick and violently hit Frank Nighbor from behind. All three players would miss a pair of games and Cleghorn was fined $15 and arrested by Ottawa police.

The official on the game, Lou Marsh, described Sprague as a disgrace to the sport in a post game report to the league, and offered that he should be banned from the NHL. Canadiens owned Dandurand was also displeased by the shenanigans and felt it tainted the game. Montreal and Ottawa could not find common ground in regards to a precise suspension, and Cleghorn returned soon after. It wouldn't be his final run in with Ottawa in the coming years.

The Cleghorn brothers set a very unique NHL record in January of 1922, in a game against Hamilton, by becoming the only two brothers to score 4 goals each in the same game.

NEWSY'S ANTICS A DISTRACTION

As successful as Dandurand was in rejuvenating the team, ongoing troubles with star Newsy Lalonde further soured the club atmosphere. Not content with Lalonde's play, nor his results as the team's coach, Dandurand openly criticized his captain and Lalonde bolted the team on January 10.

After Lalonde had missed four games, NHL president Frank Calder was brought in to mediate and settle the peace, returning Newsy to the team. Things were so tense at one point, that rumours of Lalonde throwing punches with the Cleghorn brothers in the dressing room even made the rounds. Upon his return to the team, Newsy was roundly booed to the point where, Dandurand, now acting as coach, would only use him as a sub for the remainder of the season. The 33 year old Lalonde's production dropped to 9 goals and 5 assists after scoring 60 goals in the previous two seasons in Montreal.

Three of those nine goals were scored on February 8, after his return.

Despite rough times, contract squabbles, and disputes, Lalonde became the first professional player to hit the 200 goal total. He accomplised the feat, mostly with the Canadiens, in a mere 184 games.

Three new players joined the team in 1921-22. Defensemen Edmund Bouchard and Phil Stevens appeared in 18 and 4 games respectively, but neither would go on to a career as Canadiens players.

Dandurand had strange measures for trying to instill discline on the team, and he brought in several team rules, one of which was a ban on motor vehicles for the players. Only a small portion of the public owned cars in the early 1920's, and perhaps even a lesser amount saw them as bad things. This did not stop Dandurand from banning players from owning cars in a contract stipulation.. After the incident in which Jack Laviolette lost a foot due to a car crash, Dandurand went all out to assure the same fate would not strike one of his players a second time.

ONE BOUCHER OR TWO

Dandurand, whose Canadiens still held first rights to french Canadians, implied to the league that it should give Montreal the Senators Frank Boucher, but Ottawa manager T.P. Gorman countered that Boucher was a unillingual anglophone of Irish descent and the NHL sided with him.

Frank's brother, Billy Boucher, nonetheless, was the Canadiens best new addition, and he helped make up for the drop in production by Lalonde, finishing third on the team in scoring in his rookie campaign with 17 goals and five assists. Signed as a free agent by Montreal, December 13, 1921, he would go on to become a vital piece in the Canadiens attack over the next six seasons.

Gone from the 1921 season were Jack McDonald, Dave Ritchie, Harry Mummery, Cully Wilson, Amos Arbour, and Dave Campbell.

STANDINGS STATUS QUO

For all the changes made by the Canadiens, from ownership to management, to the on ice makeup of the team, the final standing was much similar to one year ago. Montreal finished the season with a 12-11-1 record, one point behind last year's pace. They finished in third place, two points behind the St. Patricks and three behind the Senators.

The season record for Montreal is quite deceiving upon recognizing that 7 of the teams 12 wins came at the hands of the lowly Tigers. The team did however make a late season push to catch the St. Patricks, going 7-1-1 in their final nine games.

The Canadiens, whose record mirrored its standing of 1921, were clearly in a period of transition, and there would evidently be more changes on the horizon. The team could console themselves in knowing that despite all the inner turmoil on the team, they were but two points off from the Cup's eventual winner.

Ottawa's Punch Broadbent was clearly the star of this NHL season. With a 16 game consecutive goal scoring streak en route to a 32 goal campaign, Broadbent led the league in scoring and helped the Senators to a first place finish.
















The NHL was also moving ahead and they abandonned the split schedule format for a complete 24 game season in which the first place and second place teams would challenge for the league title and the right to compete for the Stanley Cup. The victor of the two game, total goals series was Toronto, and they went on to defeat the Vancouver Millionaires 3 games to 2 to claim the franchises first Stanley Cup.




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1909-10 A Team Is Born

Note for all readers and Canadiens Fans:

The Montreal Canadiens 100 Seasons has been all consuming project for me to undertake starting this past summer. I hope that you will enjoy reading it as much as I have had digging it up. I always thought that there should be one single place online, almost like a web book, where much of this could be found. Now, hopefully, I can make that a reality.

As of today, July 31, 2008, I have completed documenting roughly about half of the team's history. As I continue to write and research these posts, I will begin posting on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule, while bringing the Habs current goings on once training camp begins.

Thanks for tuning in.



The Montreal Canadiens were born on December 2, 1909 in room 129 of the Windsor Hotel.

J. Ambrose O'Brien, a businessman and sports entrepreneur from Ottawa, with financial backing from business partner T.C. Hare, submitted the one thousand dollar National Hockey Association league entry fee and made guarantees for player salaries in the amount of $5,000.

The Montreal Wanderers had been one of the stronger teams in Eastern Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1908-09 and the owners of the club were upset that the ECAHA's other 3 teams - the Ottawa Senators, the Montreal Shamrocks, and the Quebec Bulldogs - had left them behind to create a newly formed league called the Canadian Hockey Association.

The CHA had been on created November 13, 1909 and was formed of the Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec franchises, in addition to the Montreal National, and a team known as All - Montreal.



O'Brien meanwhile, had sports and arena interests in Renfrew, Haileybury and Cobalt and was sought out by Wanderers owners to form a new rival league to the CHA. Included in their ideas, was one for a Montreal based team comprised mainly of french speaking players, to counter the same idea of the CHA's Montreal National. It would be called the Montreal Canadiens, and their colours would be blue and white.

There was one small problem, these Montreal Canadiens had no arena to play in.

The issue was solved by the Wanderers, who wanted this new league to work out in such a bad way, that they would share their home rink, the Jubilee Arena, with the Canadiens.
















So the NHA was born, with the Canadiens joining forces with the Renfrew Creamery Kings, the Cobalt Silver Kings, the Haileybury Comets, and of course, the Wanderers. The Canadiens and the NHA, in its rivalry with the CHA, endured a difficult birth with several false starts.

After part of the initial schedule was remade and finally scrapped, the NHA accepted, or conspired to lure as the theory goes, two additional franchises from the CHA - the Senators and the Shamrocks - and began the season anew in January of 1910.

Jack Laviolette, a star player with the Montreal National of Federal Amateur Hockey League, the Michigan Soo Indians of the International Hockey League, and the Montreal Shamrocks of the Eastern Canadien Amateur Hockey Association, was regarded as one of the brighter hockey men the city of Montreal had in the early 1900's. He was brought in by owner O'Brien and teamed with secretary treasurer Eddy McCaffery in forming the group of players that would comprise the inaugural Montreal Canadiens team.




Laviolette, in addition to being manager, would also serve as the team's best defenseman and captain. He completed the task of getting players in place in less than one month.

Born Jean Baptiste "Jack" Laviolette in Belleville, Ontario on July 27, 1879, he moved with his family to Valleyfield, Quebec at age 12, where he developed a love of the game of hockey on his best friend Didier "Cannonball" Pitre's backyard rink.

Pitre, another defenseman, would become Laviolette's first signing to the Canadiens as he outbid the National for his services. It was quite a coup for the team, and the signing involved outracing the National's agent by train, who was also on the way to scoop up Pitre.



Soon after, Laviolette added Jos Cattarinich in goal and Newsy Lalonde in the rover position. The team's starters were rounded out by Ed Decary at center, with Arthur Bernier and Georges "Skinner" Poulin on the wings. Seven other players would suit up for Montreal in the restarted 12 game official season and they included Joseph Bougie, Ed Chapleau, Edgar Leduc, Edward Millaire, Patsy Séguin and goaltenders M. Larochelle and Teddy Groulx.

On a team photo handout of the day that featured the composition of the team, are two players named Rick Duckett and Noss Chartrand. There is little data pertaining to the standing of these players who were likely victims of the earlier season's false started schedule.



Laviolette, McCaffery, and O'Brien did much financial wheeling and dealing in aquiring several of their players, and certain transactions were contested with threats and lawsuits. After having stolen Pitre from under the National's nose, he targetted the services of Lalonde and Decary, and then moved on to All - Montreal for Poulin, all of whom where under contract.

With much of this contested in court, the Canadiens made headlines in local newpapers prior to having played their first NHA game.

Edouard Lalonde, was already known as Newsy by the time he arrived on the Canadiens scene. Born in Cornwall, Ontario, on October 31, 1887, the 22 year old Lalonde would quite rightfully become recognized as the Canadiens first true star player. Lalonde's on ice style made him the original "Flying Frenchman".

On January 5, 1910, the Canadiens beat the Cobalt squad 7-6 in overtime, with Lalonde scoring twice in what unofficially became their first ever game. Shortly after, the CHA was dissolved, and hence the Shamrocks and Senators, along with some of the league's better players, were absorbed into NHA.

It is not known how many games the Canadiens had played prior to the schedule being quickly revamped. The prior games played were shelved from the record and there exists little documentation today that details the false start.



The Canadiens restarted the season on January 19 and Lalonde recorded the team's first goal and hat trick in a loss to Renfrew. Both the Canadiens and Wanderers would play their local games at the Jubilee Arena, at the corner of Ste. Catherine and Malborough in the Westmount section of downtown Montreal. The Canadiens would lose the first four games in its history before beating Haileybury 9-5 on February 7, in front of a hometown crowd 3,000 strong. Pitre, the team's highest paid player at $1,700 per season, scored the winning goal.

Pitre would also score the winning goal in the Canadiens only other win of the 1910 season, registering a hat trick - a first for a Canadiens defenseman - on March 11 in a win over the crosstown Shamrocks. The game in itself was an oddity of sorts, as Canadiens starting goaltender M. Larochelle was tossed from the contest for vehemently arguing a goal with officials. Laviolette would take over in goal himself, thus becoming the first player coach to be credited with a win. Larochelle, who has no other Canadiens appearances to his credit, would not return. He has henceforth disappeared into mysterious Canadiens lore.

At the onset, the Canadiens were a bleak on ice, and off ice proposition. After three games, Laviolette passed the manager's hat to goalie Cattarinich so that he could concentrate his efforts on other duties involving the team while continuing to play.

Several events and strange occurances would mark the Canadiens initial campaign. Montreal would suffer its worst loss in history in this season on February 26, via a 15-3 pounding at the hands of the Haileybury Comets. In that game, Alex Currie and Nick Bawlf would become the first players to score 6 and 5 goals respectively against the sadsack Canadiens.




Finances were a problem for the Canadiens as well, and on March 9, prior to a game against the Wanderers, the Montreal players went on strike. Angered at not having been paid for their previous game, the players were convinced by Laviolette - who pointed to an arena full of possibly disappointed fans - that they would receive full renumeration for their services as soon as the gate receipts were counted.

The Canadiens would finish out the schedule in last place with a record of 2-10, scoring 59 goals and allowing an even 100. The following season, only Lalonde, Pitre, Laviolette, Bernier and Poulin would return.

In his first NHA season, Lalonde would score 38 goals in 11 games to win the league's first scoring title. He scored 16 of those in 6 games with the Canadiens before being "lent" to the Renfrew squad where he would add 22 more in the season's final five games. The move was done primarily to strengthen the O' Brien owned Creamery Kings in a Stanley Cup bid.

O' Brien was the big mover and shaker in the initial days of the NHA's first steps. In addition to the Canadiens and Renfrew, he also had ownership of the Haileybury and Cobalt franchises, and donated the league's first championship trophy - the O' Brien Cup.

Despite O' Brien's help, Renfrew would not manage its Cup goal, and the NHA championship and the Stanley Cup would become property of the Montreal Wanderers in 1910.




The Wanderers, led by stars Ernie Russell, Harry Hyland and goalie Riley Hern defeated the Berlin (now Kitchener) Union Jacks 7-3 in a one game Stanley Cup challenge held March 12, 1910 at the Jubilee Arena.

Ownership of the Stanley Cup at this time in hockey history is very different than it is known as today. As it was created to be a challenge cup, rules governing who could compete for it and how were in constant evolution until the bowl become property of the NHL.

The 1909 Stanley Cup champions were the Senators, then of the ECAHA. Ottawa had been awarded the Cup as league champions, and it was too late in the season for them to accept an outside challenge from the Winnipeg Shamrocks. While Ottawa partook in its first NHA season the following calendar year, it twice successfully defended its title in a pair of total goals games in January of 1910 against the Edmonton Eskimos and a team from Galt.

Though the Senators had twice defended their title, the team's name is inscribed on the bowl just once. Wheras other squads multiple wins within a 12 month period are duly recorded, there seemed to be little operative practice of consistency for inscriptions on the bowl.

Hockey in 1909-10, grew in often conspicuous leaps and bounds, and the Canadiens inaugural season mirrored the game's fast changing times.





The team's owners were sometimes suspect, often perceived by the public at large as simply money men cashing in on the sport's rise in popularity. As many of them were involved in boxing, horseracing, and gambling rings, hockey often suffered from the perception of it being nothing more than a violent mug's rackett. And it truly was!

Owners bought and sold teams quickly. Player's rights were fought over considerably. Local rinks gate receipts were questioned. In short, every variety of legal standing regarding the game had its share of dubious moments. Owners took advantage of players naivity, and the sides barely trusted each other.

That the Canadiens survived all of this, team name and origin intact, is quite a feat. They would have more than their share of trials and tribulations in their early going, but on the backs on great visionairies and proud players, they would outlast city rival teams through a multitude of ups and downs over the coming decades.

In all the fuss and flux, it would be the constants that remained from year to year that would bring about allegiance in the locals.

Laviolette and Cattarinich were emotionally invested in the team. Players such as Lalonde, Pitre, - stubborn as they came - and other mainstays to come, helped reinforce the team's humble foundation and build the sport in Eastern Canada.




Newsy Lalonde would leave his mark on the NHA and NHL, as much for his scoring exploits as he would for his temperament. A controversial figure of sorts, who was known at the time to have been making more money as one of the nation's best lacrosse players, Lalonde never hesitated to refuse his services when he felt he was being taking advantage of financially.

After the 1910-11 season, he jumped to Pacific Coast Hockey League's Vancouver Millionaires for more money. He was back in a Canadiens jersey the following season. Two seasons later he was sold / traded back to the Millionaires, but refused to report, causing the Canadiens all kinds of headaches in player and money transfers.

Regardless of his stubborn nature and his principles, Lalonde would be regarded as one of the NHL's early greats. He won six scoring championships across four leagues in his day - 2 NHA, 2 NHL, 1 PCHA in 1912, and 1 OPHL in 1909 - and would remain associated with the Canadiens as a player until 1923 when he was dealt to the Saskatoon Shieks for $3,500 and Aurel Joliat after a contractual squabble with then manager Leo Dandurand.

During his 12 seasons as a Canadiens player, Lalonde had been captain for eight of those years and its coach for 6. He played his final NHL game as a member of the New York Americans in 1927 and retired in 1929 after a year with the Niagara Falls Cataracts.

By 1932, he had patched up differences with Dandurand and returned to coach the Canadiens once more for two and a half seasons during some lean years for the club.



Pitre, a giant of a man for an early hockey player, had the on ice temperment of a teddy bear. He would play 13 of his next 14 hockey seasons in a Canadiens uniform, outlasting his sometimes rival team mate Lalonde by one season. A fast skating strong man with a reknowned hard shot, Pitre was one of the early game's better offensive defenseman at a time when the position was much less defined than it is today.

Laviolette would suit up for the Canadiens until 1918, when a car accident would end his career.

Cattarinich would not play for the Canadiens beyond the 1910 season. He would later team with Dandurand and another local businessman named Louis Letourneau to purchase the Canadiens.

For the 1910-11 season, Cattarinich would find his replacement in goal, and his discovery had a profound effect on the future of the Montreal Canadiens franchise.

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Georges Vezina 1910-26

One of the elite goaltenders in the annals of NHL history, Georges Vezina was a key figure in the early history of the Montreal Canadiens franchise. His outstanding play served as a model for stand-up goalies in the future. Long after he retired, fans were introduced to his name and his contributions whenever the Vezina Trophy was awarded at the end of each NHL season to the best goalkeeper in the league.

Vezina stood out in the Canadiens' net even though he played in a league that was very offensive-minded and on a team that initially struggled. In addition, goalies were forbidden to fall to the ice to make a save. So, Vezina managed to perfect an early version of the stand-up style of goaltending. A quiet, clean-living man who operated a tannery business in his home town during the off-season, his calm and cool demeanor resulted in his being labeled the "Chicoutimi Cucumber."

























Vezina was born on January 21, 1887 in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada, a small town located on the Saguenay River. He was the son of Jacques Vezina and his wife, who were both employed as bakers. Vezina played hockey from his youth when the game was still in its infancy. He might have played on his town's first hockey team ever. The game probably had been brought to Chicoutimi by some employees of Price Bros. who had attended McGill University in Montreal. Price Bros. was a local company who built a rink in town, which Vezina's father later bought.

























Vézina studied at the Petit Séminaire de Chicoutimi from 1898 to 1902, leaving after the second year of the commercial course to help his father in his bakery. At the age of 16 he was taken on as goaltender by the Club de Hockey de Chicoutimi. He was familiar with the game, having played street hockey with his friends, but he had never worn skates. Vézina learned quickly.

While playing the goalie position for amateur teams in his youth, Vezina wore boots instead of skates, a common practice of goalies in this time period. When Vezina was 18 years old, he learned to skate and wore skates while playing after that. By 1909, he was the goalie for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, an amateur team that played in the Montreal Senior League. Vezina was only 5'6" and weighed, at most, 185 lbs., and was described as thin and frail looking for much of his career, but his focused demeanor in goal was about to take him to professional ranks.










During the 1904-05 season, at an exhibition game between the Montreal Nationals of the Canadian Amateur Hockey League and the Chicoutimi club - a game Vézina’s team won - the Nationals’ goaltender, Joseph Cattarinich, was impressed by the 18 year old in the opposing goal.

At the end of the 1909-10 season, since he was giving up his position as goaltender for the Canadiens (a club formed in December 1909) to take on other duties with the team, Cattarinich suggested that Vézina be contacted.

Vezina agreed to play for the Canadiens beginning in the 1910-11 season for $800. He actually never signed a contract, but had a handshake agreement with the Canadiens manager. Vezina was known for such indiscriminate ways involving his money. He often loaned money to friends, which was never repaid. After agreeing to play with the Canadiens, he maintained a tannery business in his hometown. Vezina was also married in this time period.

In 1910, Vezina played in two exhibition games in Chicoutimi which would lead to his professional career. In preparation for upcoming Allan Cup play, the Sagueneens played against a touring Grand'Mère Senior club early in the year. Vezina garnered recognition because he got a shutout. He had the same result a short time later when he and the Chicoutimi team played against the newly formed Montreal Canadiens, a professional team of the first year National Hockey Association, in a barnstorming game in February 1910. Vezina backstopped his team to a 2-0 win. At this time, shutouts were very uncommon in part because goalies were forced to stand in goal for the whole game and were not allowed to drop to their knees to block shots. Vezina's stick handling skills were already in evidence and his play impressed the opposition.






















To ensure that he would agree to come to Montreal, Pierre, one of his brothers, who played forward, was also asked to come and practise with the Canadiens for the 1910-11 season. Georges stayed on; his brother went back to Chicoutimi. Hired in December 1910, at a salary of $800 per season (not an unusual figure, since most payers received $1,000 or less in those years), he began a brilliant career with the Montreal Canadiens, in both the National Hockey Association of Canada (1911-17) and the National Hockey League (1918-25).

The Canadiens, who were known as the Club Athlétique Canadien from November 1910 to the end of the 1915-16 season, were not immediately successful but they continued to make progress, with Vézina invariably in the net. During his rookie year, 1910-11, Vezina led the NHA in his goals against average, a feat he duplicated in his sophomore campaign. In 1914 he led the Canadiens to a first-place finish in the NHA standings, though they lost the league championship series that year to the Stanley Cup winning Toronto Blueshirts.

























At the end of that season they were NHA champions, and they had to face the Portland Rosebuds of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Canadiens emerged victorious from a memorable five-game set against the PCHA champion Portland Rosebuds in a series that represented the first of many appearances in the Stanley Cup finals for the Canadiens and the inaugural one by an American team.

One of Vézina’s sons was born during the playoffs and he was named Marcel-Stanley in honour of the victory. In the 1916-17 season, the Canadiens again won the NHA championship, but lost in the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Seattle Metropolitans in four games.
























Despite Vezina's heroics, Montreal lost the sacred silverware to the powerful Seattle Metropolitans the following year and the Washington State team became the first Stanley Cup winner from south of the border. Two years later, in the fateful rematch that was eventually canceled by the influenza epidemic, the normally quiescent Vezina was described as being high-strung. It was a portent of the goaltending showdown that was about to take place between the Habs star and the legendary Harry "Hap" Holmes of Seattle. The Canadiens entered the inaugural NHL schedule in 1917-18 with Vezina as one of their pillars. He topped all NHL goalkeepers in his goals-against average that year and again in 1924 and 1925.

Vezina's heroics were a vital component of the Canadiens second Stanley Cup championship in 1924. He stymied the Ottawa Senators in the NHL playoffs before helping Montreal overcome the challenges of Vancouver and Calgary of the PCHA and the Western Canada Hockey League respectively. In the regular season, he led all NHL netminders in his goals against average, ending a five-year dominance by the great Clint Benedict.









While sweating through training camp workouts prior to the 1925-26 season, Vezina was obviously not in good health. Despite a high fever, he was performing admirably in the Canadiens' season opener versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, but when he was forced to retire from the game, Vezina was diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis. Sadly, his condition only worsened until he passed away on March 26, 1926 but his family history was also full of tragedy, as only two of his 24 children lived to adulthood.

Even those in his own household did not know he was fighting for his life when he played his last game on November 28, 1925. The Canadien's' opponent in the old Mt. Royal Arena in Montreal that night was the Pittsburgh Pirates. After a scoreless first period, Vezina left the ice bleeding from the mouth. He collapsed in the dressing room, returned for the start of the second period, then collapsed again and had to leave the game. Only then did his family and friends learn that he had tuberculosis. Four months later, at the age of 39, he passed away.

Frank Boucher, a player from Vezina's era thought highly of the Montreal goalkeeper.
"The first thing that pops into my mind is that Vezina always wore a toque, a small, knitted hat with no brim in Montreal colours - bleu, blanc et rouge. I also remember him as the coolest man I ever saw, absolutely imperturbable. He stood upright in the net and scarcely ever left his feet; he simply played all his shots in a standing position. Vezina was a pale, narrow-featured fellow, almost frail-looking, yet remarkably good with his stick. He'd pick off more shots with it than he did with his glove."

Fittingly, the first recipient of the trophy was George Hainsworth, the brilliant young goalie who was presented with the task of replacing the legendary Vezina in Montreal. Another trophy was created in Vezina's name as a means of acknowledging the top goalkeeper in the Quebec senior league.

Vezina was among the first 12 individuals elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame when it was founded in 1945.

Habs Goalies Of 1909-10

(Robert L Note: I came up with an awesome idea to share with other Habs fans, and the plan is to feature a different Montreal Canadiens goaltender throughout their history since 1909. I plan on posting them chronologically from that year on, until the present. Late last season, I ran a feature here entitled "Who Were These Masked Men?" that proved to be quite popular, and it started me on a ginormous task - finding out everything I could come up with on each and every goalie that belonged to the Montreal Canadiens in any form. The daily feature I plan to run, will not only cover the masked (and maskless) men who have tended goal for the Habs, but each and every one drafted, signed, bought, or even simply claimed on waivers who have been Canadiens property at one time or another. It will be a journey from Vezina to Price, with every twist and turn in between. By starting in hockey's most formative years, you will be able to witness not only the evolution of the game, but also of the position and the role it plays in a team's success.

This series is dedicated to the friends, young and old, made at this past weekend's Habs Fans Summit. I was extremely touched and overwhelmingly surprised by the words of kindness and complements brought on by people's reactions to Eyes On The Prize. Putting smilling faces on readers has had the effect of motivating me to do something special, in addition to the regular rants and raves usually posted on this site about current activities. Following games, and ups and downs in the current Habs scheme of the season, will be content focused on the present. On off days between games, the goalie bios will roll out one by one. I hope you all enjoy the trip back through time!)




A disclaimer - for clarity's sake, considering beginning's of the era and it's lack of proper verifyable documentation.

The beginnings of the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club in the 1909-10 NHA season are extremely fuzzy and difficult to ascertain. The fact that it was almost 100 years ago makes things rather impossible to clarify for certain.

Four men played goal for the Canadiens in the 1909-10 season. As you will see, the details surrounding their debuts and performances may likely be forever lost to history. Only a fragment of what went on remains, the rest is blurred by time.

The two true goalies of the 4 who tended goal for the Canadiens in their inaugural season have become merely footnotes in time, while the other 2 who tended goal between them, are historical figures of prime importance in the story of the Montreal Canadiens.

In the origins of the game, players professional status was often debatable, nevermind their contractual obligations to an organization. Teams were moved and displaced in mid-season. There were few rules to abide by, and the era is one large, haphazardly, disorganized mess.

Often upon researching such times, facts conflict from source to source, making decisions as to what is really truth, practically impossible to verify.

Any eyewitnesses to happenings of the day would be 120 years old today - you get my drift?

In the 1909-10 season, and those that immediatly followed things changed extremely quickly in the burgeoning sport of hockey. The National Hockey Association (NHA) as it was know then, isn't very well documented. The NHL's earliest days are documented with much more clarity.

At that time in Canadiens history, you may have read that the hockey club initially went by the name of Club Athletique Canadien, using a C and then a CAC logo, before a potential lawsuit from a local athletic club of a similar name made team owners switch names to the current Club de Hockey Canadien (CHC), as it is still known and registered as a business today.

The CAC's initial season in the NHA also requires a certain scrutiny upon research as the 1909-10 season actually began twice. The league dropped its first ever games played from the record as teams folded, and restarted its season in January of 1910. The issue of melting outdoor ice for games also complicated matters.

Due to these auspicious beginnings, many facts were doublechecked when it came to determining which players actually played goal for the Canadiens in 1909-10.

Teddy Groulx was the first Montreal Canadiens goaltender on record, having signed with the team on January 29,1910.

Groulx himself is a man of complete mystery. There is no history as to where he came from or where he went after the season. All that is known is that the Canadiens won only 2 of their 16 games that season, and that Groulx was the winner of one. His season stats read: 7 games played, a 1 - 6 record, 420 minutes played, 62 goals against, and an 8.86 goals against average. Those stats might explain his disappearance.

The Canadiens second goaltender was a man known only as M. Larochelle. Many records fail to even confirm the first initial of his given name. I used the the book "La Glorieuse Histoire Des Canadiens" as my main reference, as in my Habs facets, it seems the most complete and best researched accountig available.

It is told that Larochelle didn't complete the game, which the Canadiens won, due to a dispute with an official. Seems he was tossed from the game after 67 minutes, a 7-6 OT win by the Habs, and was never to return. There are no pictures of Larochelle making history, and no personal information to record his place in history. There is simply text stating he was there, and then gone.

What is known of this mystery goalie, was that he belonged to the Montreal National of the LHCM in 1909-10. He was loaned to the Canadiens for the March 11, 1910 game in which he gave up four goals.

This game was the Canadiens second win in their history, the first having been a 9-5 result against the Haileybury Comets on February 26, 1910. The Canadiens had lost their first four games of it's history, including an inaugural 8-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators. Some accounts name the March 11 date as the first win while others claim it came in a matchup with the Cobalt Silver Kings, on January 5, 1910, in which Montreal won 7-6 in overtime.

Team manager, as they were termed in the day, Jean - Baptiste "Jack" Laviolette, took over in nets from Larochelle on March 11, 1910, and finished it, apparently being credited with winning the game. Laviolette was also the Canadiens manager, coach, captain, and best defenseman at the time.

Because of the cancelled beginning of the season, stats regarding Laviolette's stay between the posts cannot be determined precisely. It was mentioned at one source that he played in three additional games before handing puckstopping duties to another teammate, defenseman Joseph Cattarinich. Another source tells that it was managerial duties that were handed to Cattarinich after three games. My main reference book says that Laviolette allowed no goals in 5 minutes of play on the March 11, 7-6 overtime win.

As you see, it does not add up.

It is unclear as to whether Laviolette played in any games that where cancelled in late December 1909, or if the stats given refer only to the game he participated in after the 1910 new year and the restarted season.

One source credits Laviolette with the teams first goaltender win on a December 1909 date, while another states that the coach made official history (first substitute goalie credited with a win) by replacing Larochelle on March 11, 1910. That date would seem very late in the season to be considered fact.

Adding to the confusion, it is commonly known that the Ottawa Senators won the 1910 Stanley Cup on January 20.

In any regard, Canadiens defenseman Cattarinich became the teams next goaltender, out of sheer personal dedication to the team. The Cattarinich name will be very familiar to those who have researched the team's history, as he would become an eventual owner (1921-35), along with Louis Letourneaux and Leo Dandurand.

Cattarinich, the player, executive, and man of all trades, would be eventually be inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1962.

Cattarinich was a defenseman and forward with the Montreal National from 1904 to 1909. He was born in Levis, Quebec on November 13, 1881, and passed away on December 8, 1938, at the age of 57 years old. As a goaltender, records state that he caught with his left hand, and was 5' 10" and weighed 167 lbs.

All in all, conflicting reports considered, the Canadiens first four goaltenders of record were, in no particular factual order, Groulx, Larochelle, Laviolette, and Cattarinich. Maybe your great, great grandfather could help clear up the facts! Thankfully, Cattarinich discovered the next Canadiens goaltender, and no such confusion would reign again.

Due to an absense of further info on Larochelle and Groulx, only the profiles of Laviolette and Cattarinich, neither career goaltenders, shall be included in this initial post on the Canadiens goaltenders of the 1909-10 season.

For bilingual Habs fans, further readings on the beginnings of the Canadiens, circa 1909, can be found at the "Bilan Du Ciecle" site from the University of Sherbrooke. Facts mix with myth - take 'em with a grain of salt!

December 4, 1909 - Creation of the Canadiens hockey team in the NHA.

January 5, 1910 - The Canadiens first game.

November 12, 1910 - Canadiens admitted into the NHA.

























(Robert L Note: The following bios of Laviolette and Cattarinich, however confusing, were edited from several sources including the Hockey Hall Of Fame website, which can at times be astounding in it's errors and grammatical incompetence. The site needs an editor, big time!)

Jack Laviolette likely never imagined himself a goaltender.

A true "Jack-of-all-trades", Laviolette was an offensively gifted defender entrusted by the team owner as coach, manager, and captain of the Canadiens. It was therefore his duty, as he took it, to replace goaltender M. Larochelle when he was thrown out of the Canadiens initial contest for arguing a goal.

While there is no statistical data to matches of this early inaugural season in Canadiens history, it has been written that Laviolette tended goal for 3 additional games, all loses, before reassuming his prior duties. Goaltending tasks were handed to another Canadiens defenseman, Joseph Cattarinich, until a suitable replacement could be found.

Laviolette's true place in hockey history has less to do with his scoring prowess as a player (as a defenseman,he scored 45 goals in 147 games) for the Montreal Canadiens, and more to do with the fact that he was the first player, coach and GM of the team in the 1909-10 season. With the formation of the National Hockey Association (which became the NHL 7 seasons later), team / league owner Ambrose O'Brian asked Laviolette to put together a team made up of French Canadian players to form a franchise in Montreal.
























Laviolette completed the task in time for the NHA's inaugural season. Among those that would sign on to that first team would be future Hall Of Famers Newsy Lalonde and Didier Pitre. He would add the "Chicoutimi Cucumber," goaltender Georges Vezina the following season, helping to make the Canadiens more competitive in their second year.

The team Laviolette built would go on to be the most successful franchise in professional hockey.

While a youth, Laviolette's family moved to Valleyfield, Quebec where he took up the sports of hockey and lacrosse at an early age. He began his organized hockey career in the Montreal City League and moved to the Montreal Nationals of the Federal Amateur Hockey League in 1904, finishing sixth in league scoring with eight goals in six games. He moved to the Michigan Soo Indians of the International Hockey League the following season where he scored 40 goals over three seasons and was named to the IHL First All-Star Team in 1905 and 1907 along with a being made a Second Team selection in 1906.



















He was also lacrosse star with the Montreal Nationales in the early 1900's. In 1904 joined the professional team in Sault St. Marie, MI.

He returned to Montreal in the fall of 1907 to play hockey for the Shamrocks of the Eastern Canadian Amateur Hockey Association for two seasons before joining the National Hockey Association's Montreal Canadiens in their inaugural season of 1909-10.

Laviolette played on his only Stanley Cup winning team in 1915-16 when the Canadiens defeated the Portland Rosebuds 3-2 in a best-of-five series hosted by Montreal.

While tuning a car for a planned tour of Quebec in the summer of 1919, Laviolette crashed and lost his right foot in the mishap. His playing days were over. A benefit game for Jack was arranged at the Mount Royal Arena during the winter of 1921. Not only was he the guest of honour but he also refereed the game.

He was later inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame as a lacrosse player. Jack Laviolette was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962.
























Joseph Cattarinich, though not a goalie by trade, was the fourth man to tend goal for the Montreal Canadiens. A steady defenseman for the Canadiens, Cattarinich was asked by coach Jack Laviolette to replace him after three games in goal himself. It is assumed that he played in 5 games before a man named Teddy Groulx finished out the final 7 games of the season. No statistical data is available for Cattarinich's stint in goal.

Cattarinich's legacy as an important figure in the early annals of the Canadiens was likely cemented with the most astute of business decisions for the team. He solved its goaltending dilema.

Cattarinich discovered Georges Vezina in 1910 during a barnstorming match between Chicoutimi and the Montreal Canadiens. Vezina and his team of amateurs shut out the Habs, so impressing Montreal goalie Joseph Cattarinich that he persuaded Canadiens' owner George Kennedy to sign up Vezina, even though it would mean the end of Cattarinich's job. The "Chicoutimi Cucumber" would go on to play 328 league games and 39 more in the playoffs with the Canadiens from 1910 to 1926.












Known as a quiet, unselfish, but highly efficient businessman, Joseph Cattarinich's legacy was in helping to make the Montreal Canadiens one of the world's greatest sports franchises. He earned many admirers because he stressed making important and helpful decisions rather than gaining publicity for them. These decisive moves often based on financial assistance from Cattarinich who was generous, though not careless with his money.

Born in Levis, Quebec, across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City, on November 13, 1881, Cattarinich played hockey and lacrosse as a youth. While tending goal for the Montreal Nationals of the CHA, he was impressed with the individual guarding the Chicoutimi net. He astutely recommended that the player in question, Georges Vezina, be brought in to replace him the following season. This selfless move for the betterment of the team was typical of Cattarinich in sports or business.

Originally a brakeman for Canadian Pacific, Cattarinich had met Dandurand in 1909 when he was part of the Montreal Lacrosse Club. The two would enjoy a long and prosperous partnership, working together in the tobacco and horse racing industries before achieving their greatest successes as owners of the Canadiens.

























On November 3, 1921, Cattarinich and business partners Leo Dandurand and Louis Letourneau purchased the Montreal Canadiens from the widow of former owner George Kennedy for $11,000. Under their management, the Canadiens became the most exciting team in the NHL and were known as the "Flying Frenchmen" while winning three Stanley Cups. Some of the stars of this period included Howie Morenz, Aurel Joliat, Joe Malone, and Newsy Lalonde.

Louis Letourneau retired in 1931 leaving the other two to see the team through the Great Depression. Cattarinich's generosity was not killed off by these difficult times. He loaned Chicago's Major Frederic McLaughlin a vast sum of money to keep the team in business because it was for the good of the league. Finally, in 1935, Cattarinich and Dandurand sold the team for $165,000 for economic reasons.

Dandurand, Letourneau, and Cattarinich, owners of the Canadiens, presented an idea for a trophy to the National Hockey League in 1926-27 in memory of Georges Vezina. The outstanding goalkeeper collapsed during an NHL game Nov. 28, 1925, and died of tuberculosis a few months later.

After Letourneau retired and sold his interests in the team in 1931, Cattarinich and Dandurand were left to oversee the team through the Great Depression. Cattarinich's generosity was not killed off by these difficult times. He loaned Chicago's Major Frederic McLaughlin, the man who had named and ran the Black Hawks, a vast sum of money to keep the team in business because it was for the good of the league.

Upon the death of Habs legend Howie Morenz in 1937, all of the players personal items were to be auctionned off. Cattarinich could not attend, but asked that Jules Dugal, the Canadiens secretary treasurer, purchase the complete Morenz hockey outfit for $500. Cattarinich then turned over the outfit, giving it to Morenz' son Howie Jr.

The good deed is a fine example of the man whom Cattarinich was.

He was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977.

(Update: Following the publishing of this posting, Chuck, a regular reader of the site and a keen follower of Habs history went sleuthing to solve the mysteries of this most unusual of seasons. What he managed to come up was a more complete picture of what likely went on in 1910. By breaking down the goaltenders individual stats, Chuck sorts out what games were part of the original cancelled season, and which belonged to the two restarted seasons of record. By referencing several books on the matter, he then rolls out chronologically, the scores and goaltenders of each game. After I had banged my head on the subject of these four goalies for literally one month, searching for comprehension and clarity, Chuck's submission was quite the gift! Here is what he had to say, starting with a quick recap on the creation of the team and it's earliest days of existance.)


I was always under the impression that the original "Les Canadiens" franchise that was awarded to Ambrose O'Brien for the first NHA season in 1909-10 was suspended after that first year, and was eventually transferred to Toronto to become the Blueshirts for the 1912-13 season.

The apparent reason for this was that George Kennedy already owned the "Club Athletique Canadien" which was founded in 1908; to work out a name-infringement lawsuit O'Brien foreited the original Canadiens franchise on November 12, 1910 and received $7,500 from Kennedy to assume the rights to the players that were under contract with the original team. At that time, O'Brien also sold the rights to the Haileybury Comets franchise, which he also owned, to Kennedy... it was this franchise that he stocked with the former Les Canadiens players and re-christened it the Club Athletique Canadien.

This version of the story was referenced by Charles L. Coleman, Trail of the Stanley Cup, Kendall/Hunt (1964), p. 201. :

"George Kennedy, owner of the "Club Athlétique Canadien" founded a year earlier, claimed rights to the Canadiens name. To settle the dispute, a complex deal was worked out in the spring of 1910. Les Canadiens suspended operations for the 1910-11 NHA season (the franchise rights were taken over a year later by the Toronto Blueshirts), while Kennedy's team joined the NHA as its second Montreal franchise... Kennedy took over the franchise rights of the Haileybury Hockey Club. The Haileybury team had also been owned by O'Brien, but folded after the season when it became obvious that the mining town was too small to support a big-league hockey team; the remains of the club were sold to Kennedy as part of the deal with O'Brien."

Thus, George Kennedy was able to assimilate his Club Athletique Canadien with the Haileybury franchise for the 1910-11 NHA season. Technically then, the lineage for the current team would then go back through Kennedy's formation of the Club Athletique Canadien from 1909, and NOT back to the original franchise awarded to Ambrose O'Brien with the inception of the NHA.

If we accept this route, then theoretically anything to do with that original 1909-10 Canadiens team should not be part of the current team's history. However, since Kennedy assumed the name and the players from the 1909-10 squad, history acknowledges that the Canadiens played their first game on January 5, 1910. But even then, questions arise.

Regarding the Habs first win, well, it's more than a little foggy. Apparently the NHA restarted the season not once, but twice; the first restart was on January 5, 1910, with the first three Canadiens games from December 1909 of the proposed 16-game season having been stricken from the record.

The second restart came on January 15, 1910 after the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Shamrocks were absorbed from the Canadian Hockey Association. From that point, the season would consist of a 12-game schedule. Because of this, the 7-6 overtime win versus the Cobalt Silver Kings didn’t count in the final standings, and probably shouldn’t be counted as their first win.

According to the stats that I have for the 1910 season, of the 12 remaining games that the Canadiens played, they lost the first four: to Renfrew on January 19, Ottawa (newly crowned Stanly Cup champions after having defeated a challenge from Edmonton of the Alberta Hockey League in Ottawa on January 18 & 20) on January 22 in Ottawa, again to Ottawa on January 26, and then to the Shamrocks on February 2.

Their first “official” win, i.e.: one that counted in league standings was by a 9-5 score over Haileybury on February 7, 1910. In a strange twist of history, it could then be said that the Canadiens beat themselves for their first win! They were to win their second game, the last of their first campaign, on March 11, 1910 when they defeated the Shamrocks by a 5-4 score in the 12th minute of overtime.

As far as the goaltending situation goes, here’s where it gets interesting. By combining your data and mine, I think we can come up with a plausible explanation of who played when.

Your info has Teddy Groulx signing with the team January 29, 1910; therefore it would be highly unlikely that he tended goal in the first 4 games on January 5, 19, 22, and 26. My stats have Teddy playing in 9 games, giving up 77 goals - which is the total number of goals that the Canadiens gave up in their final 9 games played after January 29.

It would then be safe to say that Teddy Groulx played the final 9 games of that season - never to be heard from again.

The three games following the January 15th re-start saw the Canadiens give up a total of 23 goals in three games; those totals agree with the season stats that I have for Joe Cattarinich. We could then say that he played on January 19, 22, and 26.

That leaves M. Larochelle and Jack Laviolette. Your info has Laviolette taking over for M. Larochelle in a 7-6 overtime win. The only game matching that score is the January 5 game against Cobalt, which is the only one not accounted for by Groulx or Cattarinich. Also, Laviolette is said to have felt that “it was his duty", as he took it, to replace goaltender M. Larochelle when he was thrown out of the Canadiens initial contest for arguing a goal.

Since it is widely accepted that the first game was January 5th, that seems to add extra credence to the argument that the duo of Larochelle and Laviolette were in nets on that date.

You also mention that Laviolette was the goaltender in three other games, which dovetails nicely into the theory the he was pencilled in as the team's goaltender for the first three games in 1909 that were stricken from the record, especially since he was given the task of assembling the team by Ambrose O’Brien.

My other reasoning for this timeline is that teams only carried one goaltender; it makes sense that one guy would play until the next guy took over for good, and didn’t switch games back and forth with a second goaltender.

Putting all of this info together, here’s my version of the earliest Canadiens goaltender history:

December 1909: The first three games of the proposed 16-game 1909-1910 season are stricken from the record. Jack Laviolette was the Canadiens goaltender for these three games.

January 5, 1910: The first re-start of the season, with M. Larochelle tending goal for all six goals allowed in a 7-6 overtime win over the Cobalt Silver Kings. Jack Laviolette replaces Larochelle after he’s tossed from the game.

January 15, 1910: The second re-start of the season after the Senators and Shamrocks are admitted to the league. Only the games after that point in the season (the final 12 games) count in the record books.

January 19, 1910: Renfrew 9, Canadiens 4. Cattarinich in goal.

January 22, 1910: Ottawa 6, Canadiens 4. Cattarinich in goal.

January 26, 1910: Ottawa 8, Canadiens 4. Cattarinich in goal.

January 29, 1910: Groulx signs with the Canadiens, takes over goaltending duties.

February 2, 1910: Shamrocks 8, Canadiens 3. Groulx in goal.

February 7, 1910: Canadiens 9, Haileybury 5. First of two Canadiens official wins on the season. Groulx in goal.

February 12 (Wanderers), February 15 (Renfrew), February 24 (Cobalt), February 26 (Haileybury), March 5 (Cobalt) and March 9 (Wanderers). Six more losses, all with Groulx in goal.

March 11, 1910: Final game of the 1910 season. The Canadiens defeat the Shamrocks 5-4 in overtime, giving Groulx his second win of the season.

The only chink in the armor is that you have Groulx playing the last 7 games and picking up the win in the last game, while my stats seem to lean towards Groulx playing in the final 9 games and picking up both official wins. Therefore the only two games in question would be February 2 against the Shamrocks and February 7 against Haileybury.

My thoughts are this: I find it unlikely that if the Canadiens found a need to replace Cattarinich, and had signed Groulx on January 29 that they would let Cattarinich play two more games (the second being a win) and bring Groulx into the lineup two weeks later.

Whatever the true history is, it sure makes some for some great sleuthing opportunities! It would be interesting to see what's in the Canadiens' archive that might be able to clear up some of the earliest questions surrounding the team.