THE CANADA TIMES

As it happened

THE SHAMROCKS

THE STANLEY CUPAND

July 2014

McCord Museum of McGill University

Jeanie Johnston Educational Foundation Next ArticlesHospitaller Order of St. John of Jeruslem Mohawks & Irish Famine155,du Buisson, Pierrefonds, P.Q.H8Y 2Z5 Polish bear & Monte CasinoTel; 514-341-7777 Scots emigrate to PolandEmail: jeaniejohnstonfdn@videotron.ca

By Brian O’NeillMontreal June 10, 2104

When Lord Stanley of Preston presented his trophy in 1893, he intended that it be a challenge trophy to be presented year after year to the champion hockey club of the Dominion, which was, of course, made up of amateurs. That is not the case today as the Stanley Cup is now presented to the top team of the NHL.

One of the other provisions of the original granting of the trophy was that there would be two trustees who were responsible for establishing the conditions for competition. It was also deemed that should a trustee resign or otherwise drop out, the remaining trustee would name a substitute.

The first two trustees were John Sweetland and Philips Ross. Since that time, there have been seven other trustees appointed including myself. When I was appointed by “Bud” Estey, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, it was to replace Clarence Campbell had died. When Estey passed away, I nominated as his replacement Ian “Scotty” Morrison.

The Stanley Cup has always been the focus of attention in hockey circles. This was certainly evident here in Montreal recently.

The Montreal Canadiens’ hockey season is over, but it was not before they thrilled the entire province and indeed the nation with their determined style of play. They did their city proud and in my almost 49 years with the League, I don’t believe I have ever witnessed such enthusiasm and outright affection for a home team.

Montreal has always been a dedicated hockey city, and, perhaps it is not that well known that the city has won a total of 42 Stanley Cups since the first one was presented in 1893. I would be hard pressed to find any city in any sport which could match that record. Even Toronto, a distinct second with 13 Stanley Cups, could not boast of such a record.

Before anyone searches the records to verify this information, let me provide the details of the number of cups won by six different Montreal teams:

• Montreal Canadiens 24 • Montreal Amateur Athletic Assoc. 4 • Montreal Wanderers 5 • Montreal Victorias 2 • Montreal Shamrocks 2 • Montreal Maroons 2 Total 39

It may be some time before Montreal wins another Stanley Cup and it does not appear that any one team will establish a dynasty as Montreal did in the 50s and with 30 competitive teams in the League we may never experience a new leader on a regular basis.

In looking at the list of Montreal Stanley Cup winners, it is interesting to note that the Montreal Shamrocks captured the trophy in successive years during their 10 years of participation. At the time, these two events demonstrated the impact that the Irish made on the game of hockey in early days – an impact that continues to this day.

The Shamrocks’ teams were made up mainly of Irish descendants, many of whom attended Loyola College. Names such as Trihey, McKennan, Tansey, Foley, Dunphy, Scanlan, and Farrell made up the roster of those teams.

The Shamrocks was one of the first teams to join the new League – The Canadian Amateur Hockey League in 1899 – and won the Stanley Cup in its first try.

One of the highlights of that season was a victory by the Shamrocks over Quebec by a score of 13-4 – a game in which Harry Trihey scored 10 goals, a record that has never been equaled since in Stanley Cup play.

In considering the Irish impact on hockey in Canada, it is interesting to note that no player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame was born in Ireland. Other countries including England, Wales, Australia, Finland, Sweden and Russia can claim at least one native in the Hall. However, it is quite apparent that subsequent generations of Irish took to the game and made a major impact.

Some of the early builders of the game were noted Irish descendants with such names as Kelly, McCormack, Costello, Clancy, Shamahan, O’Connor, O’Neil (Windy) McNamara, Gallagher, Morrison, Malone, McKell, Maloney, McFee, O’Brien and so many others.

Truly, it can be said that from the early days, the Irish set aside their hurley sticks and took up hockey sticks.

By Alan Hustak.

A couple of Irish priests, Bernard Devlin and Joseph Quinlivan, are credited with introducing French Canadian players to competitive hockey. Fr. Devin was teaching in the 1890s at College Ste. Marie, the French speaking Jesuit institution. At the time, Montreal was divided on linguistic and religious grounds. The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association had opened in 1881 as an exclusive Protestant institution. According to T.P. Slattery, a Catholic boys’ competitive hockey club first appeared the same year Stanley put his cup up for competition, when Fr. Devlin put together a team at College Ste. Marie.

Although the college was French, many of the boys on the team were of Irish origin: Harry Trihey, Athur Farrel, Jack Brannen and D’Arcy McGee (the father of Confederation’s nephew), Hugh Semple, Walter Kiernan and Jack Harty.

In 1892, Fr.Quinlivan, the parish priest at St. Patrick’s put together a lacrosse team that went to the Chicago’s World’s Fair. So when Loyola College opened in 1896, amateur “hockey and football teams” started to take shape. There were, however, no nets on the rink, just poles.

Quinivan thought that the church should help finance a hockey team for the boys at the Jesuit school. It was called the Shamrocks. Chubby Power (who later held portfolios in the MacKenzie King’s government), played for the team. In his memoirs, Power recalled one priest who coached the team who” got tremendously excited when important matches were being played. He had a habit of walking up and down with a rosary in his hands, saying the beads, while the game was on, but his “Our Fathers” and “Hail Marys” were frequently interspersed with shouts of “Pass the puck” and when a referee had given a dubious ruling, there were non-clerical explosions of “damns” and a few other choice words mingled with his prayers.

The Shamrocks helped to teach francophone members of the l’Association Athletique d’Amateurs le National, an athletic club modeled on the MAA.

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This newsletter is produced by the Jeanie Johnston Foundation in conjunction with Montreal Commandery, Order of St. John of Jerusalem, with which we have worked for the past year, presenting the Battle of the Chateauguay. During the War of 1812, a militia force led by Lt. Col. Michel De Salaberry, which included warriors from the First Nations, British, Irish, French Voltigeurs and Scots, fought a successful battle defeating an invading American force as it attempted to capture Montreal and Canada. We combined our resources with Parks Canada and the Department of Defence and our initiative succeeded in influencing the Federal Government to name a supply ship in honour of this historic event “HMCS Chateauguay.”

Our May issue lead article “The Sinking of the Empress of Ireland” was well received and an exhibition of artifacts and memorabilia can be seen in Ottawa at the Museum of History.

Articles should be submitted to Alan Hustak, Editor.

hustak@themetrepolitan.ca

jeaniejohnstonfdn@videotron.ca

WEB SITES: click to view www.irishfamine.ca – focusing on the effects of arrival of thousands of famine victims into Canada and the USA.

www.canadarailwaytimes.com – focusing on the building of the Victoria Bridge, the founding of the Grand Trunk railway and the effect of this on sports, entertainment, politics and education.

Did you know that the Victoria Bridge has only been closed for one day since it was built?

www.hospitaller.ca – focusing on the history and aims of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.