Early days of hockey in Hamilton, Ontario (amateur, star, sport)

[Ken S.]

This is the beginning of an essay that I was going to write covering the first decade or so that it was played in Hamilton. I recently rediscovered it while going through my papers, and have decided to post it here as I'm not sure it will ever be finished or published. On occasion I still do some research and am compiling a database of games in Hamilton or by Hamilton teams up to the end of the 1924/25 season (the last season for the Hamilton Tigers (NHL)). It's possible that additional information will come to light so I can't say that the information below is conclusive about the origins of the game in Hamilton.

Hockey Comes to Hamilton

The first mention of a game of hockey being played in Hamilton is recorded in the Hamilton Spectator of February 16, 1891:

"This fine old game is growing in favor here. On Saturday [February 14] a match was played between teams representing the Bank of Hamilton and Knox, Morgan & Co., which resulted in favor of the bank team by a score of three to two."

Clearly the comment "growing in favor" suggests that games had already been played in the city for at least a winter or two - and it is possible that games were played after this one. However, no further mention is made until the following winter.

On December 4, 1891, reprinted the following from the Toronto Empire:

"Why is it that Hamilton has not yet a hockey team? Surely the sport-loving city under the mountain, whose curlers have so many laurels, should be represented by spirited wielder of the ash."

And then there is silence for two months to the day when it was noted that "C Company [13th Battalion] will probably play a match with the Hamilton team next Tuesday". What was meant by "Hamilton team" and whether or not the game was played remains unclear.

However, a few days later it was announced that a game would be played between the Granites from Toronto and a tam from Galt at the Thistle Rink. According to the Toronto Empire, the Granites had "two special wagon cars at [their] disposal" and would be accompanied by "200 to 300 strong-lunged supporters". The game took place on February 11 and was won handily by the Granites by a score of 7-2.

[Ken S.]

Found my notes. The line-ups for the February 14, 1891 game are (goal-point-cover-4 forwards):

Bank of Hamilton: Ussher, Stewart, Veasey, Nichol, Ridout, Young, Billings.
Knox, Morgan: Shambrook, H. Harvey, McKeand, J. Harvey, Gilles, Bunting, Findlay.

Corrections to the previous post:

On December 4, 1891, the Hamilton Spectator reprinted the following from the Toronto Empire:

and "team" for "tam" in last paragraph.

[Ken S.]

Continuing on to the next winter, the following is also from the Spectator (some of which is already found in post #1):

Dec. 4/91
"Toronto Empire: Why is it that Hamilton has not yet a hockey team? Surely the sport-loving city under the mountain, whose curlers have so many laurels, should be represented by spirited wielder of the ash."

Feb. 4/92
"C Company will probably play a match with the Hamilton team next Tuesday."

Feb. 6/92
"The match between Galt and the Toronto Granites will be played here on Wednesday or Thursday."

Feb. 8/92
- Galt vs. Granites at Thistle Rink @ 7:00pm.

Feb. 9/92
- tomorrow night @ Thistle rink, a game between Banks and Town. Players listed: Banks: Pottinger, Hamilton, Veasey, Ambrey, Brown, Gates, E. Ferrie. Town: Leggat, Marshall, Watson, McCulloch, Glassco, Mason, Southam.

Feb. 11/92
- No mention of Town vs. Banks game
- According to the Empire: "Between 200 and 300 strong-lunged supporters will leave with the team at 4:55 for Hamilton this afternoon (Thursday.) Two special wagons cars will be at the dispersal of the Granites hockey team and their friends. The club has also made arrangements with the G.T.R. for a special rate to Hamilton and return."

Feb. 12/92
- Granites beat Galt 7 to 2 [note to self to make a copy of the game summary, but not sure if I did and where it is].

Feb. 13/92
"The Granite Colts [?] will likely play an exhibition match in Hamilton or London next week."

Feb. 16/92
"The following are the teams for the match this evening:
"[Town ?] R. Watson, V. Glassco, W. Marshall, C. R. McCulloch, W. E Boyd, H. Leggat, J. Hobson.
"[Banks ?] Pottinger (captain), Hamilton, Gates, Ferrie, Southam, R. Moreton, J. Gow."

Feb. 17/92
- No mention of game.

Mar. 11/92
"A scratch matchwill be played at the Thistle rink tomorrow night between the follow:"
- Watson, Boyd, V. Glassco, Ferrie, Lyle.
- Pottinger, Marshall, Southam, Mason, McCullough.

Mar. 14/92
- No mention of game's result.

Mar. 16/92
"A hockey match will be played at the Thistle rink to-night between the following: W. Marshall, Boyd, Southam, Pottenger, O'Reilly; Mason, Hamilton, Meakins, Watson, Wylie, Gow."

[end]

[Ken S.]

This is part of an article that claims that Dick Irvin Sr.'s father played hockey in Hamilton in 1888. It was printed in the sports section of the London Free Press on December 10, 1926.

Dick Irvin Is
Hamilton Boy
- - - - -
Captain of Chicago Black Hawks
Comes From Family of
Hockeyists
- - - - -
By JAMES CRUSINBERRY

CHICAGO, Dec. 10—They call him the
silver-haired fox of the hockey game.
If you watch the Black Hawks perform
you will see him loafing around the
middle of the pond during the contest,
and every once and a while hooking the
puck deftly from an opponent and
turning the attack on the opponents'
goal. His name is Dick Irvin and he's
captain of the team.

Dick comes from good old hockey
stock. He was born in Hamilton, Ont.,
33 years ago and began learning the
game of hockey before he began to
walk because his father, James Irvin,
was a hockey star in the early days of
the game, as far back as 1888, when he
was the leading performer for the Ham-
ilton team of amateurs.