Cooper Smeaton
Cooper Smeaton | |
---|---|
Born | James Cooper Smeaton July 22, 1890 Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada |
Died | October 3, 1978 Montreal, Quebec, Canada | (aged 88)
Known for | Ice hockey referee and coach |
Honours | Hockey Hall of Fame (1961) |
James Cooper Smeaton (July 22, 1890 – October 3, 1978) was a
Biography
Smeaton was born in
Smeaton moved to New York in 1910 and played one season of
Smeaton returned to Montreal for family reasons and joined Sun Life Insurance and started refereeing amateur games as a sideline. [6] In 1913, he joined the National Hockey Association (NHA) as a referee. In his first game in 1913, between the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers, he was confronted by Newsy Lalonde after calling an offside. Smeaton promptly fined Lalonde $5 (Lalonde, known as a bit of a "tightwad", never repeated the incident).[7]
In 1914, Smeaton joined the
Smeaton became the NHL's first referee-in-chief when the NHL formed in 1917. He was offered the general manager's job of the expansion New York Rangers in 1926, but turned it down to remain in Montreal.[10] He served as referee until 1930 when he became the head coach of the Philadelphia Quakers. The Quakers played only one season, 1930–31, finishing out of the playoffs. The following season, Smeaton resumed refereeing. He refereed in the NHL until 1937 when he retired. Smeaton, who officiated numerous Stanley Cup and Allan Cup finals, was inducted as an on-ice official into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961.[11]
Part of the reason Smeaton retired from hockey was to attend to his business career. He retired to accept a promotion to assistant branch manager at Sun Life.[12] Smeaton later became Ottawa branch manager before returning to Montreal to become Montreal branch manager in 1944.[13] He continued working at Sun Life until retiring in 1954. Smeaton also served as president of the Montreal Life Insurance Underwriters Association.[14]
Smeaton remained active in retirement with golf. He died on October 3, 1978, at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal,[17] survived by his wife Victoria. Smeaton is buried in Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.[18]
NHL coaching record
Team | Year | Regular season |
Post season
| |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | L | T | Pts | Division rank | Result | ||
Philadelphia Quakers | 1930–31 | 44 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 12 | 5th in American | Missed playoffs |
References
- ^ MacLeod 2018, p. 46
- ^ Fischler 1976, p. 33.
- ^ "Insurance Hockey League". The Gazette. Montreal. February 15, 1908. p. 2.
- ^ MacLeod 2018, p. 47
- ^ "Hockey year just ended, had many rough games" Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 13, 1910. Retrieved July 29, 2020
- ^ Fischler 1976, p. 34.
- ^ Fischler 1976, p. 35.
- ^ "Ross Appoints Cooper Smeaton as Co-Trustee of Stanley Cup". The Gazette. Montreal. February 25, 1946. p. 16.
- ^ "Canadiens Here Wednesday Next". Town of Mount Royal Weekly Post. September 17, 1959. p. 3.
- ^ "Smeaton offered N.Y. Management". The Gazette. Montreal. March 3, 1926. p. 18.
- ^ Hockey Hall of Fame. "Officials By Induction Year -- Legends of Hockey -- The Legends". Legends of Hockey. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
- ^ Fischler 1976, p. 36.
- ^ a b "Cooper Smeaton is named Stanley Cup Trustee". Ottawa Citizen. February 25, 1946. p. 10.
- ^ "Insurance Men Told of Business Ethics". The Gazette. Montreal. March 14, 1947. p. 57.
- ^ Diamond, Zweig, and Duplacey, p. 40
- ^ "Court:Non-NHL teams could vie for Cup". TSN. February 7, 2006. Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved July 15, 2006.
- ^ "Smeaton dies at 88". The Gazette. Montreal. October 4, 1978. p. 52.
- ^ MacLeod 2018, p. 50
- General references
- Diamond, Dan; Eric Zweig; James Duplacey (2003). The Ultimate Prize: The Stanley Cup. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 0-7407-3830-5.
- Fischler, Stan (1976). Those Were The Days: The Lore of Hockey by the Legends of the Game. New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Company. ISBN 0-396-07015-9.
- MacLeod, Alan Livingstone (2018), From Rinks to Regiments: Hockey Hall-of-Famers and the Great War, Victoria, British Columbia: Heritage House, ISBN 978-1-77203-268-0
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database
- Cooper Smeaton at Find a Grave
- National Hockey League Official Association biography