Is Hockey Deteriorating? The Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 1932-11-12

[overpass]

I came across a fascinating article in the Winnipeg Tribune archives about the decline of Winnipeg hockey, and thought I would share it.

"Is Hockey Deteriorating?" Tony Allan, Winnipeg Tribune, November 12, 1932, p. 29

(Hat tip to the stickied thread with a great list of newspaper archive sources.)

The article, by the great Winnipeg Tribune sportswriter and editor Tony Allan, chronicles the previous dominance of Winnipeg as a source of player talent. Winnipeg teams had won 6 of 10 Allan Cups (the senior amateur hockey championship of Canada) in the decade 1911-1920, and Winnipeg players were all over professional hockey in the 1920s. But as of the articles writing in 1932, the number of hockey stars from Winnipeg was way down from previous years.

In addition to those specifically interested in early Winnipeg hockey, the article also touches on a couple of points of discussion that are popular here.

How has the talent pool of hockey players increased over the years? We often discuss this in very broad terms, using Canada's population or the population of all hockey playing countries. But when you take a detailed look at the rise and fall of the production of top level hockey players from specific cities or regions over the years, it becomes clear that there are many other factors involved in developing NHL players that can change over the years as well. Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba provided a real boost to the hockey talent pool in the early decades of the 20th century. When Winnipeg no longer provided the best players to the NHL, was that a result of poor player development, as Allan suggest in the article? Or was it also the rise of Saskatchewan and Alberta as major sources of NHL talent?

There are also points in the article discussing the modern focus on systems instead of skills in developing players that could almost have been written in 1998 instead of 1932.

Old hockey players tell the story that when Dick Irvin was a member of the Monarchs he used to line 10 pop bottles along the rail before every practice, and then pick them off one by one with the puck from a distance of 30 feet. He never missed more than once in 10 shots.

Irvin developed one of the best shots in hockey. It lacked the steam of the cannon balls that “Babe†Dye and Joe Simpson used to fling at the terrified goalies, but its accuracy was uncanny.

“But Irvin didn’t have to back-check, or stick like a leech to his opposing wingman,†you protest, and that, brother, is where you hit the nail square on the head.

Back-checking and the defensive style of play in vogue the past few seasons are as much to blame for the falling-off in shooting as anything else. Coaches emphasize fast skating and back-checking, and neglect to teach their protégés how to shoot and how to score.

“Just shadow boxing,†was the comment made by an old-time hockey player, after watching one of the senior games here last winter. “In the old days the idea was to go out and score more goals than the other fellow. Now it seems to be to keep the other fellow from scoring at any cost.â€

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[NickLidstrom]

Just goes to show the power of nostalgia

 

[angrymnky]

I think it actually shows the continual challenge to balance the game.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Great Find

I came across a fascinating article in the Winnipeg Tribune archives about the decline of Winnipeg hockey, and thought I would share it.

"Is Hockey Deteriorating?" Tony Allan, Winnipeg Tribune, November 12, 1932, p. 29

(Hat tip to the stickied thread with a great list of newspaper archive sources.)

The article, by the great Winnipeg Tribune sportswriter and editor Tony Allan, chronicles the previous dominance of Winnipeg as a source of player talent. Winnipeg teams had won 6 of 10 Allan Cups (the senior amateur hockey championship of Canada) in the decade 1911-1920, and Winnipeg players were all over professional hockey in the 1920s. But as of the articles writing in 1932, the number of hockey stars from Winnipeg was way down from previous years.

In addition to those specifically interested in early Winnipeg hockey, the article also touches on a couple of points of discussion that are popular here.

How has the talent pool of hockey players increased over the years? We often discuss this in very broad terms, using Canada's population or the population of all hockey playing countries. But when you take a detailed look at the rise and fall of the production of top level hockey players from specific cities or regions over the years, it becomes clear that there are many other factors involved in developing NHL players that can change over the years as well. Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba provided a real boost to the hockey talent pool in the early decades of the 20th century. When Winnipeg no longer provided the best players to the NHL, was that a result of poor player development, as Allan suggest in the article? Or was it also the rise of Saskatchewan and Alberta as major sources of NHL talent?

There are also points in the article discussing the modern focus on systems instead of skills in developing players that could almost have been written in 1998 instead of 1932.

Great find and contribution overpass.

Interesting commentary about the game post consolidation given that Winnipeg was never part of the PCHA or any of the consolidated leagues.

Also at the time the article was written, no one had a real sense of the economics situation and conséquences of what came to be known as the Depression.

Definitely an impetus to more research into Tony Allan articles and columns.

 

[overpass]

Interesting commentary about the game post consolidation given that Winnipeg was never part of the PCHA or any of the consolidated leagues.

One line from the article makes the point that the creation of the Big-4 and WCHL may have had a negative impact on player development in Winnipeg.

In the lean years, which followed the great exodus of players from Winnipeg to the Western Canada league and the Pacific Coast league, few new stars came forward to take the place of those who have departed.

Those leagues drew many of their players from the Winnipeg region, and the fact that there was no team in Winnipeg meant that any top Winnipeg players who wanted to turn professional had to leave the city.

Definitely an impetus to more research into Tony Allan articles and columns.

I believe Allan is primarily known for his pieces on Canadian football, but this was certainly a good hockey piece.

Just goes to show the power of nostalgia

There's certainly more than a little nostalgia in the lament for the lost glory days of Winnipeg.

The author has a strong point, though, when he points out the decline in Winnipeg hockey dominance.

The article names a long list of hockey players that came out of Winnipeg between 1911-1920. Many of the names are only familiar to historians of the western game, but a fair number of them went on to be NHL stars. Take the 1926-27 season, the first season after the WCHL and PCHA had closed and sold their players to the NHL. Players developed in Winnipeg's golden age included:

Dick Irvin, 2nd in league scoring and 4th in Hart voting
Frank Fredrickson, 4th in league scoring, 3rd in Hart voting, 1st team all-star*
Harry Oliver, 9th in league scoring
George Hay, 13th in league scoring and 1st team all-star*
Johnny Sheppard, 18th in league scoring
Herb Gardiner, Hart Trophy winner and 2nd team all-star*
Ching Johnson, 2nd team all-star*

Just 5 seasons later, in the 1931-32 season, the Winnipeg presence on league leaderboards and all-star teams was almost gone. Ching Johnson was still voted as a first-team all-star at age 34, but he was from the tail end of the 1911-1920 generation. Charlie Gardiner, the Vezina trophy winner and first team all-star in goal, was the only star player Winnipeg had developed since 1920.

*Unofficial all-star teams voted by managers and writers.

 

[NickLidstrom]

I don't know much about hockey in the 20s, so most of the names mean nothing to me. The biggest thing i take out of this article is the fact that 80 years later, people are still complaining about today's 'decline of the game'' due to the transition to a more defensive style, which is exactly what was said in the newspaper. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[Sprague Cleghorn]

That 2nd quote looks like it could've been from today. "Hockey is too defensive now. It was better when teams went out to try and outscore rather than limit the opponent. More goals are needed!".

 

[mbhhofr]

I had met Tony Allan. My brother, who went on to become an Attorney and Provincial Judge, was a Sportswriter for the Tribune in Tony's final years as Editor. I used to hang around the Sports Department. There is something written by Tony near the end of the article that caught my attention.

Skating comes naturally to all young Winnipeggers. They take to it like a duck takes to water and most of them were born with a hockey stick in their hands.

In the 1940's, I was one of those ducks.

 

[LeBlondeDemon10]

Skating comes naturally to all young Winnipeggers. They take to it like a duck takes to water and most of them were born with a hockey stick in their hands.

In the 1940's, I was one of those ducks.

As a former Pegger you would know about our long winters. Well, today we just had our second major snowfall of the winter. None of the few and far between outdoor rinks have been flooded yet due to such warm temps this fall/winter.

This article had me thinking about the lack of Quebecois in the NHL in this era. At least that is my perception. It used to be such a hotbed for scorers and then goalies.

Lastly, the cyclical patterns of the game in terms of scoring versus defense seems to be an issue for every generation.

 

[tarheelhockey]

One line from the article makes the point that the creation of the Big-4 and WCHL may have had a negative impact on player development in Winnipeg.

There's no question that the Big-4 had a negative impact on the Manitoba amateur league. They raided Winnipeg and its environs for talent every autumn, and never more conspicuously than when they took pretty much the entire Selkirk Fishermen team wholesale (the talented players, anyway).

May as well throw in the Saskatchewan seniors, the PCHA, and to a lesser extent the eastern amateur and pro leagues as well. Lots of money was moving around under the table at that time, and Manitoba was maybe the only place producing substantial talent without a local pro (or shamateur) league to place them. The Big-4 of course has the permanent legacy of paying its "amateurs" because they got caught and suffered a comeuppance, but every other league including the OHL was doing the same. The whole scene was driven by money.

By the mid-20s it was practically a given that if a Manitoba-born player was any good, he'd leave town with a suitcase full of cash.

 

[Theokritos]

I came across a fascinating article in the Winnipeg Tribune archives about the decline of Winnipeg hockey, and thought I would share it.

"Is Hockey Deteriorating?" Tony Allan, Winnipeg Tribune, November 12, 1932, p. 29

(Hat tip to the stickied thread with a great list of newspaper archive sources.)

The article, by the great Winnipeg Tribune sportswriter and editor Tony Allan, chronicles the previous dominance of Winnipeg as a source of player talent. Winnipeg teams had won 6 of 10 Allan Cups (the senior amateur hockey championship of Canada) in the decade 1911-1920, and Winnipeg players were all over professional hockey in the 1920s. But as of the articles writing in 1932, the number of hockey stars from Winnipeg was way down from previous years.

In addition to those specifically interested in early Winnipeg hockey, the article also touches on a couple of points of discussion that are popular here.

How has the talent pool of hockey players increased over the years? We often discuss this in very broad terms, using Canada's population or the population of all hockey playing countries. But when you take a detailed look at the rise and fall of the production of top level hockey players from specific cities or regions over the years, it becomes clear that there are many other factors involved in developing NHL players that can change over the years as well. Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba provided a real boost to the hockey talent pool in the early decades of the 20th century. When Winnipeg no longer provided the best players to the NHL, was that a result of poor player development, as Allan suggest in the article? Or was it also the rise of Saskatchewan and Alberta as major sources of NHL talent?

There are also points in the article discussing the modern focus on systems instead of skills in developing players that could almost have been written in 1998 instead of 1932.

Very interesting. So basically the defensive team game (with forwards back-checking and wingers covering their counterparts as they were skating up and down their lanes) came about in the late 1920s ("in vogue the past few seasons", written in 1932).

 

[Canadiens1958]

Forward Pass

Very interesting. So basically the defensive team game (with forwards back-checking and wingers covering their counterparts as they were skating up and down their lanes) came about in the late 1920s ("in vogue the past few seasons", written in 1932).

In response to the forward pass rules introduced for the 1929-30 NHL season. Head manning the puck no longer allowed players the luxury of coasting back defensively.

 

[overpass]

In response to the forward pass rules introduced for the 1929-30 NHL season. Head manning the puck no longer allowed players the luxury of coasting back defensively.

I think the focus on defensive play and checking back in the NHL goes back into the late 1920s. While it's difficult to say which was the cause and which was the effect, it tracks together with roster expansion and the development of regular line changes. The time period 1925-1932 saw huge changes in this area, as teams went from a starters/subs rotation (with some players still occasionally playing 60 minutes) to using two regular forward lines to three regular forward lines and two defense pairings. This would have allowed players to skate harder on every shift as well.

But this article is focusing on the changes seen in Winnipeg senior amateur hockey. Did they immediately follow the lead of the NHL in implementing the forward pass rule, roster expansions, and other rule changes?

 

[Canadiens1958]

Varied

I think the focus on defensive play and checking back in the NHL goes back into the late 1920s. While it's difficult to say which was the cause and which was the effect, it tracks together with roster expansion and the development of regular line changes. The time period 1925-1932 saw huge changes in this area, as teams went from a starters/subs rotation (with some players still occasionally playing 60 minutes) to using two regular forward lines to three regular forward lines and two defense pairings. This would have allowed players to skate harder on every shift as well.

But this article is focusing on the changes seen in Winnipeg senior amateur hockey. Did they immediately follow the lead of the NHL in implementing the forward pass rule, roster expansions, and other rule changes?

Date of implementation varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but Allan Cup eligible leagues came on board quickly.

Verifying the box scores with game rosters would indicate how quickily Manitoba came on board. However Senior leagues due to the depression carried slightly smaller rosters. Roster size varied from region to region based on the local economy.

 

[Killion]

Lastly, the cyclical patterns of the game in terms of scoring versus defense seems to be an issue for every generation.

Yes, its quite striking if you read critiques of the game & the players over the generations, era~era.... Same complaints. Cyclical.
Like fashion/music. What some pundit said in 1930... well, couldve been written in decades later & been entirely topical. Spooky huh?