Frank Calder
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Frank Calder | |
---|---|
1st President of the National Hockey League | |
In office 1917–1943 | |
Succeeded by | Red Dutton |
Personal details | |
Born | Frank Sellick Calder November 17, 1877 Bristol, England |
Died | February 4, 1943 Montreal, Quebec | (aged 65)
Nationality | Canadian |
Frank Sellick Calder (November 17, 1877 – February 4, 1943) was a British-born Canadian ice hockey executive, journalist, and athlete.
Calder was the first
Early life
Calder was born to
He married a fellow teacher, Amelia Cole, and they had three sons and one daughter.[2]
Early career
Calder worked as a sports editor at the
National Hockey Association
On November 15, 1914, Calder was appointed secretary-treasurer of the National Hockey Association (NHA).[3]
In 1917, the NHA owners decided to drop Eddie Livingstone's Toronto Blueshirts franchise and took his players. Robinson, seeing he was as powerless as his predecessor Emmett Quinn was resigned as NHA president. At the time, Calder was the secretary-treasurer when Frank Robinson resigned as president of the NHA in 1917.[citation needed] Calder, the league secretary, saw an opportunity in the situation. He decided that the NHA owners allied against Livingstone needed someone to represent them, and, in effect, Calder was—at least for all practical purposes—the new president of the NHA. He arranged meetings between the NHA's owners to figure out how to get rid of Livingstone, and decided to form a new league.[citation needed]
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League, in the NHA's place. Calder was elected president of the new league, which was officially established on November 26, 1917.[citation needed]
Calder wielded his power as president with authority. One example of this authority occurred during the Hamilton Tigers strike in 1925. Rather than negotiate with the players, he suspended and fined them each $200.[4]
In 1926, Calder first arranged a co-operation agreement with the new American Hockey Association (AHA), then broke it upon learning that Livingstone owned the Chicago Cardinals franchise. He declared that several Cardinals players belonged to the NHL's Chicago franchise (the Black Hawks), or other teams, and arranged for the ouster of Livingstone from the AHA. Livingstone would give up on professional hockey and return to amateur hockey. When the AHA later attempted to play for the Stanley Cup, Calder declared it an "outlaw league," but he happily accepted James E. Norris, who owned the AHA's Chicago Shamrocks, into the NHL to bail out the struggling Detroit Cougars franchise. The Cougars were renamed the Detroit Red Wings upon Norris' acquisition of them.[citation needed]
Calder was adamant that minorities would not be restricted from participation in the NHL. During the 1927–28 season, upon hearing of the Boston Black Panthers, the first all-Black hockey team in the United States, he was reported to have remarked that, "Pro hockey has no ruling against the colored man, nor is it likely to ever draw the line," a reference to the segregation in baseball.[5]
Only one attempt to remove Calder as president of the NHL was made. This was in 1932–33, when Black Hawks owner Frederic McLaughlin circulated a letter to the NHL Board of Governors to remove him. The board rejected the motion.[citation needed]
Commencing with the 1932–33 season, Calder named the top rookie in the NHL. Starting in 1936–37, he convinced the NHL's Board of Governors to let him buy a trophy to give annually to the league's top rookie, and he did this until 1941–42. After Calder's death, the trophy was made permanent as the Calder Memorial Trophy.[citation needed]
Calder received a silver service in 1937–38 for his 20 years as president of the NHL.[citation needed]
Professional–amateur relations
In February 1938, Calder terminated the NHL's agreement with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) which governed signing of amateur players. He met with W. G. Hardy of the CAHA after a player suspended by the NHL was registered by a CAHA team. The differences were not resolved and Calder told NHL teams that they could approach any junior player with a contract offer.[6][7] A new agreement was reached in August 1938, where the CAHA agreed not to allow international transfers for players on NHL reserve lists, and the NHL agreed not to sign any junior players without permission. It stipulated that both organizations use the same playing rules, and recognize each other's suspensions.[8] Hardy then represented the CAHA at the joint rules committee to draft uniform rules with the NHL.[9] A new professional-amateur agreement was signed by Calder in October 1940 to reimburse amateur teams for developing NHL players, and also applied to players sent to the Eastern Amateur Hockey League.[10] The agreement included allowing the NHL to sign a limited number of junior age players. By January 1941, both Calder and Hardy agreed the organizations were at a "perfect understanding" and were co-operating closely.[11]
Death
Calder was presiding over a meeting of the NHL's Board of Governors on January 25, 1943, when he suffered a
Honours and legacy
Calder was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947 as a builder. Two trophies in professional hockey are named for him: the Calder Memorial Trophy, given yearly to the NHL's top rookie, and the Calder Cup, the championship trophy of the American Hockey League (AHL). Calder was also awarded the Order of Sport, marking his induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.[12]
References
- ^ Frank Calder (1917-1943)
- ^ a b c d "Hockey Men Mourn Passing of Frank Calder". Montreal Gazette. February 5, 1943. pp. 16–17.
- ^ Coleman(1966), p. 267
- ^ "TVO | Current affairs, documentaries and education".
- ^ Gibson, Dick (February 14, 1928). "What's What in Sport?". Border Cities Star. p. 2.
- ^ "C.A.H.A. Boss Insists Pros Must Not Approach Amateurs". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. February 24, 1938. p. 19.
- ^ "Will Air Amateur And Pro Hockey Battle: Is Important Item On Agenda Of C.A.H.A. Meet". Lethbridge Herald. Lethbridge, Alberta. April 14, 1938. p. 14.
- ^ "C.A.H.A.-N.H.L. Agreement Is Again Effected". Lethbridge Herald. Lethbridge, Alberta. August 15, 1938. p. 11.
- ^ "N.H.L. - C.A.H.A. To Attempt Draft Uniform Set Rules". Lethbridge Herald. Lethbridge, Alberta. September 22, 1938. p. 13.
- ^ "Clubs Will Share Reimbursement Under This Plan". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. October 18, 1940. p. 20.
- ^ "Close Co-Operation Exists Between Hockey Organizations". Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, Manitoba. January 2, 1941. p. 12.
- ^ "Canada Sports Hall of Fame | Hall of Famers Search". www.sportshall.ca. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
Bibliography
- Coleman, Charles (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 1, 1893-1926, inc.
- Ross, J. Andrew (2015). Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-3383-9.
- Holzman, Morey (2002). Deceptions and Doublecross: How the NHL Conquered Hockey. Dundurn Press. ISBN 1-55002-413-2.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from Legends of Hockey
- Frank Calder (NHL President 1917-1943)