Hockey History

James Cree was born on August 25, 1889 in St. Regis Reservation in Upstate New York, as a Mohawk member of the Akwesasne territory, a territory also including parts of southern Ontario and Quebec in Canada across the St. Lawrence River. Growing up on the Canadian side of border Cree came in...

On this night 115 years ago (a Friday in 1907), a proud home town celebrated the Stanley Cup victory of the Kenora Thistles at the Hilliard Opera House. Kenora had won the Cup a few weeks before, with victories against the Montreal Wanderers on January 17 and January 21, 1907, to sweep their...

The 13-hour time difference between Beijing and where I am makes it a bit confusing, but even though the official Opening Ceremonies aren’t for a couple of days, the Winter Olympics get started tonight … which is tomorrow afternoon in China. Women’s hockey kicks things off, with Canada facing...

I'm happy to share this Book Feature thread concerning my recently self published book A Confluence of Destinies: The Saga of the Winnipeg Falcons' 1920 Olympic Gold Medal Victory now available on Amazon. Any group of hockey historians is likely familiar with the story of the Falcons, for no...

Frank Boucher is best known for being one of the superstar centers of the 1920s-30s, the pivot of the Bread Line, annual winner (and literal owner) of the Lady Byng, and a fixture in the Rangers organization for many decades. Less remembered is his tenure at the head of the Saskatchewan Junior...

Dictionary sources make the claim that a loafer, while in human form, is an idle person, or someone who does nothing. The Vancouver Sun, while reporting on an offside infraction committed by star forward Fred “Cyclone” Taylor during a February 21, 1919 game in the Pacific Coast Hockey...

On Jan. 18 & 19 at 8 PM, CBC "Ideas" will be airing a documentary on Lloyd Percival, titled "Canada's Sports Prophet." A podcast will also be available on that date, as well as the revised edition of Lloyd Percival: Coach and Visionary. Part II of the documentary, airing in Jan. 19, will be...

Well, Hockey Day in Canada was supposed to be broadcast from Owen Sound 10 days from today on Saturday, January 29. Events were scheduled all around town from Tuesday to Friday leading up to it. Unfortunately, word came down two weeks ago that amid new provincial restrictions and a worsening...

As head coach of the Soviet national team, Arkadi Chernyshov won no fewer than 12 World Championship and Olympic gold medals. But as Anatoli Tarasov wrote: Do not imagine Chernyshov as some kind of poster boy for good fortune who is always lucky and whose fate is bright and without clouds...

In their first 7 seasons in Denver from 1996-2002, the Avalanche made the conference finals 6 times, winning them twice, and winning the cup afterwards both times. Here's a detailed look in terms of how Sakic and Forsberg did scoring wise. The general takeaway is Sakic was better in their cup...

I’ll admit that I was pleased with myself when I found that Merry Christmas/Happy New Year clipping I used in my year-end Holiday story three weeks ago. I’d found similar (ish) clippings to use for holiday stories in 2017 and 2019, but this one was fun because of the personal connections…...

Hi everyone! My name is Pat Pickens, and I'm the author of "The Whalers: The Rise, Fall and Enduring Mystique of New England's (Second) Greatest NHL Franchise." It's my first book and took me 10 years from start to finish and was released October 15. Anyone interested in purchasing the book...

Ice hockey players in Canada during the first two decades of the 1900s, whether professional or amateur, didn’t play in as many league games per season as would later become the norm during the latter half of the same century. But outside of also competing in a number of different exhibition...

Future Soviet sports star Vsevolod Bobrov was born on December 1, 1922. He grew up in the town of Sestroretsk at the Gulf of Finland and spent his spare time playing soccer and bandy – a hockey-like game on ice with a ball instead of a puck and with 10 skaters per team. The talented youngster...

After a slow start to the NHL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs just blitzed through a November to remember. With 12 wins in 14 games, Toronto has taken over top spot in the Atlantic Division … although most Leafs fans still feel like “ain’t nothin’s nothin’” until the team finally win at least...

Hi everyone, My name is Mike Commito. I am the author of the Hockey 365 book series, and I'm happy to bring my latest volume, The Second Period: More Daily Stories from the Ice, to "The History of Hockey" here on HF Boards. Looking forward to answering any questions you may have about the book...

Andrew “Andy” Shearer was born on January 26, 1864 in Montreal, Quebec to James Traill Shearer and Eliza Shearer (née Graham). His father, who was a carpenter and a lumber manufacturer by trade, was an immigrant from Caithness in northern Scotland, whereas his mother was born in Montreal. As an...

Our family has had a cottage near Oro Station, on the shores of Lake Simcoe, at the foot of Oro Line 7, since the summer of 1970. (It’s Oro-Medonte Line 7 now. Has been for quite a while. But I still think of it under the old name.) About a month ago, when Rogers Hometown Hockey announced that...

Hello all, I'm happy to answer any questions about my latest book "Mosienko: The Man Who Caught Lightning in A Bottle". The book can be purchased at book stores across the prairies, online places like Amazon, and the publisher Great Plains' website. In addition to Mosienko, this book also...

Book Title: Capitals, Aristocrats, and Cougars: Victoria’s Hockey Professionals, 1911-1926 Author: Alan Livingstone MacLeod Publisher: Heritage House, Capitals, Aristocrats, and Cougars | Heritage House Publishing Author Note: As he freely admits in his newest book, A. L. MacLeod was never...