Ace Bailey-Eddie Shore incident...

[BrodeursCups]

Obviously we are aware of the end result, but I have to ask, just how brutal was Shore's hit from behind on bailey?

Also, was clancy's hit on Shore the real reason he attacked Bailey? Just retaliation?

Click to read more...

 

[finchster]

Since there was no TV it is hard to say just how bad it was. All we can go on is the reporters and they can be bias depending on the news paper. I have the news paper reports from the Globe and Mail from this incident that I can give some quotes from.

I got them for a project of mine and I could give some quotes from this paper in a weeks time. (I am pretty busy right now)

Edit:
the front page story the next day states

After five apparet hockey-rule violations had passed with no action by Referees Odie Cleghorn and Eusebe Daignault of Montreal, The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins turned their National Hockey League game into a shambles before 12,000 rabid spectators tonight at the Boston Garden.
Trip Starts Rumpus.
Eddie Shore start the rumpus by tripping Ace Baliey with such force that he was rendered unconscious. Red Horner, Toronto defenseman then rushed at Shore and knocked him down with a heavy right hook to the jaw. Shore's head struck the ice with such terrific force that he suffered a three-inch gash that required seven stitches. Baliey was unconscious and Shore badly stunned when their team-mates carried them off the ice

 

[seventieslord]

There are at least 2 official stories about how Shore took down Bailey, and a couple variations of each. There's one that says he charged him from behind and shouldered him, and another that says it was a tap in the back of the skates that sent him reeling backwards.

 

[Wetcoaster]

Red Horner's version of what occurred:

Then, on December 12, 1933, during the second period of a game between Toronto and the Bruins in Boston, hometown hero Eddie Shore was checked hard by Toronto defenseman Red Horner while carrying the puck into the Leafs end. "Eddie Shore was having a very frustrating night," explained Red Horner. "He was playing a great game but it wasn't getting him or the Bruins anywhere. They couldn't score on us. (Coach) Dick Irvin sent out King Clancy and myself and Ace Bailey up front to kill off the (two) penalties. Bailey was a very expert stickhandler, and he ragged the puck for awhile. Eventually, Shore got his stick on the puck and made a nice rush deep into our end. Shore came down my side and I gave him a very good hipcheck." As play moved back into the Boston end, Shore, dazed by the hit and searching for revenge, skated wildly towards Ace Bailey, likely thinking that he was charging Horner. "He wanted to get even for the check I'd just put on him. He thought Bailey was me. He charged into Bailey on an angle from the side. He hit Bailey and flipped him in the air, just like a rag doll. Bailey landed on his head just a few feet from where I was standing. Bailey hit the ice and he went into some kind of convulsion. I thought to myself, 'That's the end of Ace!'" Bailey lost consciousness and began bleeding from a head wound. Horner, sickened by the sight of his injured teammate, coldcocked Shore, knocking him to the ice unconscious. "Shore skated away in a very nonchalant fashion. I wasn't going to let him get away with that, so I went after him."

http://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/html/spot_oneononep197502.htm

 

[Big Phil]

Also some stories say Horner decked Shore after the hit, others claim it was Clancy who one-punched him. It's hard because it was 1933 and all you have to go by are the newspapers. Kind of like when Richard apparently knocked out NHL tough guy Bob Dill twice in a game with one punch each time. Has the legend grown or if we were to ever see a video would it be accurate?

You want to judge Shore's hit? He got a 16 game suspension for that. The most in NHL history up until Hunter's hit on Turgeon in '93.

Shore was so good that he was STILL a 2nd team all-star on defence despite missing 1/3 of the season. Wow.

 

[Wetcoaster]

Also some stories say Horner decked Shore after the hit, others claim it was Clancy who one-punched him. It's hard because it was 1933 and all you have to go by are the newspapers. Kind of like when Richard apparently knocked out NHL tough guy Bob Dill twice in a game with one punch each time. Has the legend grown or if we were to ever see a video would it be accurate?

You want to judge Shore's hit? He got a 16 game suspension for that. The most in NHL history up until Hunter's hit on Turgeon in '93.

Shore was so good that he was STILL a 2nd team all-star on defence despite missing 1/3 of the season. Wow.

You have a first hand account from Horner himself. See post above.

 

[Grimshaw]

Interesting snippets from the article poster earlier,

Ranging from amusing;

A drunken fan accused Bailey of faking his injury. Incensed, Leaf manager Conn Smythe struck the man with a punch to the mouth. The fan pressed charges and Boston police locked up Smythe for the night. Conn later was released and paid the spectator's dental bills.

When word of his son's injuries reached Bailey's father, he armed himself with a handgun and a train ticket to Boston, intent on exacting revenge on Shore. Word filtered to Conn Smythe, who alerted Frank Selke. Selke contacted a friend on the Boston police force who discovered Ace's father in the bar of the Leafs' hotel and was able to convince him to abort his plot. The senior Bailey was put on a train back to Toronto and the empty gun returned by mail two weeks later.

To admirable considering the reputation owners have, especially in the past, as penny pinching slavedrivers;

The Boston Bruins set aside almost $8,000 in gate receipts from a contest with the Montreal Maroons, and the money was sent to Bailey's family. On January 24, 1934, the NHL's Board of Governors announced that a special benefit game featuring the Toronto Maple Leafs facing the best from the rest of the league would be staged at Maple Leaf Gardens with the proceeds going to Ace Bailey and his family.

To reaffirming the aforementioned reputation;

Once forced to retire, Ace Bailey asked the NHL if he could work as a linesman, but the offer was declined. ... from 1938 to 1984, Ace continued his ties with hockey by serving as a timekeeper at Maple Leaf Gardens. In 1984, at the age of 81, Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard dismissed Bailey from the position he enjoyed so much.

 

[TonyBabagan00sh]

Interesting snippets from the article poster earlier,




To reaffirming the aforementioned reputation;

Not surprising considering how much of a jerk Ballard was

 

[canucks4ever]

Even though I feel bad for what happened to ace bailey, i also believe he was inducted into the hall of fame because everyone felt sorry for him. His actual on-ice accomplishments aren't any better than that of Markus Naslund, Paul Kariya or Martin St. Louis.

 

[tyger508]

Hey, does anyone know who the other guys are in this picture besides Shore?

Thanks in advance!

http://www.artletics.com/product.php?proid=494&sub_catid=

 

[lovetherangers]

"OH piss on Eddie Shore"

 

[Mayor Bee]

Here's my thinking.

As far as how Shore hit Bailey, the question is whether he was tripped from behind, hit from behind, or hit at an angle.

The end result is that Bailey was knocked off his skates and hit the back of his head on the ice, causing a severe head injury.

Basic physics says that a simple hit from behind in open ice wouldn't have that effect; Bailey would go flying forward and, although he may end up being knocked off his skates, he wouldn't hit the back of his head. It also stands to reason that if he were hit from the side, he'd have been knocked over almost where he stood and Shore probably would have ended up on top of him. Again, no impact to the back of the head.

So I think what probably would have happened is this. Shore came up behind or to the side of Bailey with a good few strides, then hit him up high while kicking his skates out with his leg. It would reconcile the various accounts of exactly how Bailey was hit, and it would also explain how he ended up hitting the back of his head on the ice.

I'm thinking that it would be a mirror image of what happened between Dan Boyle and Alex Semin in the Olympics. Boyle gets hit, doesn't like it, takes several strides toward Semin from the back, and leg-whips him while hitting (or pulling) him up high.

 

[Bobby Orr]

Here's my thinking.

As far as how Shore hit Bailey, the question is whether he was tripped from behind, hit from behind, or hit at an angle.

The end result is that Bailey was knocked off his skates and hit the back of his head on the ice, causing a severe head injury.

Basic physics says that a simple hit from behind in open ice wouldn't have that effect; Bailey would go flying forward and, although he may end up being knocked off his skates, he wouldn't hit the back of his head. It also stands to reason that if he were hit from the side, he'd have been knocked over almost where he stood and Shore probably would have ended up on top of him. Again, no impact to the back of the head.

So I think what probably would have happened is this. Shore came up behind or to the side of Bailey with a good few strides, then hit him up high while kicking his skates out with his leg. It would reconcile the various accounts of exactly how Bailey was hit, and it would also explain how he ended up hitting the back of his head on the ice.

I'm thinking that it would be a mirror image of what happened between Dan Boyle and Alex Semin in the Olympics. Boyle gets hit, doesn't like it, takes several strides toward Semin from the back, and leg-whips him while hitting (or pulling) him up high.

I found an old report in the Pittsburgh Gazette on Google archives that states the injury was a 5 inch fracture starting from the frontal region and extending "around" to the parietal region.

That doesn't seem consistent with drilling the back of your head on the ice.

Some of the other articles on there say Shore was in a glazed over state after being hit, and after he got up, skated with his head down and simply plowed into Ace. (at an estimated 22mph - I don't know how they'd know that) The stupor he was in is backed up by a Horner quote stating that when he confronted Shore after Ace was down, Eddie just kept repeating whatever Horner was saying.

 

[Mayor Bee]

I found an old report in the Pittsburgh Gazette on Google archives that states the injury was a 5 inch fracture starting from the frontal region and extending "around" to the parietal region.

That doesn't seem consistent with drilling the back of your head on the ice.

Some of the other articles on there say Shore was in a glazed over state after being hit, and after he got up, skated with his head down and simply plowed into Ace. (at an estimated 22mph - I don't know how they'd know that) The stupor he was in is backed up by a Horner quote stating that when he confronted Shore after Ace was down, Eddie just kept repeating whatever Horner was saying.

I started to respond to this last night, but stopped since I couldn't find the pic. Then I found it, so here I am again.

The picture shows Bailey at some point during his recovery; his hair is starting to come back in and the scar is quite prominent. It's probably 3" tall and runs vertically from the anterior part of the right ear almost to the superior aspect of the temporal bone. As far as whether they made an incision there to drill or what, I'm not certain of.

But I did some thinking and attempted to replicate what I believe to be the most likely scenario, so let me clarify. I don't think that Bailey would have struck the posterior of his head directly on the ice. What most likely happened would have been that he was taken down in a manner that would have led not to Bailey actually smashing his head on the ice, but actually impacting at the fullest extent of the range of motion of his neck.

So rather than hitting headfirst, he probably landed on the back of his right shoulder. This caused his head to jerk toward the shoulder, but it would stop at a certain point because the muscle and connective tissue can only go so far. If the impact were to take place at that point, the maximum amount of force would have been directed to the skull.

Bill Masterton didn't sustain a skull fracture, and he was 6' and 185 pounds. Bailey was 5'10" and 160 pounds, so his head wouldn't have been moving as fast. So it's reasonable to deduce that the manner in which the impact was dispersed made the difference.