A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & the Rise of Professional Hockey

by Stephen J. Harper

Overview

Drawing on extensive archival records and illustrations, histories of the sport, and newspaper files, Canada’s Prime Minister delves into the fascinating early years of ice hockey.

In the tumultuous beginnings of hockey, the fights were as much off the ice as on it. This engaging new book is about the hockey heroes and hard-boiled businessmen who built the game, and the rise and fall of legendary teams pursuing the Stanley Cup. With a historian’s perspective and fan’s passion, Stephen Harper presents a riveting and often-surprising portrait, capturing everything from the physical contests on the rinks to the battles behind the scenes.

Stephen Harper shows that many things have stayed the same. Rough play, fervent hometown loyalties, owner-player contract disputes, dubious news coverage, and big money were issues from the get-go. Most important in these early years was the question: Was hockey to be a game of obsessed amateurs playing for the love of the sport, or was it a game for paid professionals who would give fans what they wanted? Who should be responsible for the sport—including its bouts of violence—both on and off the ice.

A century ago, rinks could melt, and by halftime the blades screwed to the players’ shoes could be sinking in mud. It was during this time that the unsuccessful Toronto Professionals of 1908 and the victorious Toronto Blue Shirts of 1914 battled for the city’s very first Stanley Cup. Against the fanatical opposition of amateur hockey leaders, these “forgotten Leafs” would lay the groundwork for the world’s most profitable hockey franchise.

In paying tribute to these hockey pioneers and the contagious loyalty of their fans, Harper resurrects the history of hockey’s first decades. Lavishly illustrated with photographs of the game’s greatest arenas and earliest star players, this entertaining and original book will captivate you from start to finish.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476716558
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	02/13/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	369
File size:	25 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Like millions of other Canadians, Stephen Harper developed his love for hockey at a young age as he played at the arenas and on the shiny rinks and roads of his hometown. Today, long retired from his on-ice “career” with the Leaside Lions, he is the twenty-second Prime Minister of Canada and is happily married to Laureen, who, with their children Ben and Rachel, live in Calgary and Ottawa. A member of the Society of International Hockey Research with a particular interest in the early decades of the game, Mr. Harper is an amateur historian interested in exploring the sport’s impact on the people and places that define Canada. A Great Game is his first published work on the game of hockey.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Facing Off

Chapter 1 The Old Order in Hockey's Second City 1

From Good Beginnings to the Osgoodes

Chapter 2 The Rise of "The Paper Tyrant" 23

All Is Well Under the Wellingtons

Chapter 3 The Enemy in the Open 41

The Ascent of the Marlboros

Chapter 4 The Road to War 61

The Defection of the Marlboros

Chapter 5 The Rebellion Begins 79

The Toronto Hockey Club Is Born

Chapter 6 The Uprising Spreads 95

Professional Hockey Appears Across Ontario

Chapter 7 The Pros on the March 117

The Ontario Professional Hockey League Is Formed

Chapter 8 A Brush with Eternity 137

The Torontos Reach for the Stanley Cup

Chapter 9 The Pros in Retreat 157

The Garnet and Grey Hit Cracks in the Ice

Chapter 10 The Triumph of the Amateurs 181

The End of the Toronto Professionals

Chapter 11 The Old Order Restored 199

The Era of Amateurism Returns to the Queen City

Chapter 12 The Revenge of History 219

A New and Stronger Toronto Hockey Club Emerges

Chapter 13 The New Order in Hockey's Second City 237

The Blue Shirts Take the Stanley Cup

Overtime 261

An Era Fades Away

Acknowledgments 287

Notes 291

Bibliography 311

Illustration Credits 321

Statistical Records, 1906-1909 327

Index 341

Editorial Reviews

A Great Game is a "...readable and entertaining historical exposition of the early organizational days of Canada's most beloved sport...[Harper is] an unreconstructed sentimentalist about hockey. He romances the game, focusing on its sepia-toned infancy."

Toronto Star

"...the Prime Minister does a good job of taking you back to the country, and the time, that gave birth to the national game."

Globe and Mail

"An illustration of hockey's special place in the Canadian heart and mind...Harper has written a finely detailed history of the struggle between professionalism and amateurism in early 20th-century Ontario hockey...It includes insightful examinations of class and religion and the roles they played in a country that still saw itself as a pillar of the British Empire, all viewed through the prism of hockey at the dawn of the pro era."

The New York Times