Frank Calder (ice hockey official)

Frank Calder (ice hockey official).

Frank Calder (born November 17, 1877 in Bristol , England , † February 4, 1943 in Montreal , Québec , Canada ) was an English sports journalist, sports official and the first president of the National Hockey League .

Career

Calder was born in England to Scottish parents. At the beginning of the 20th century he moved to Montreal to work as a private tutor. After a few years he gave up this profession and worked as a sports journalist for the Montreal Witness , which later became the Montreal Herald . As a young man he was active in football , rugby , golf , handball and cricket , where he also showed his inclination to become an official. He was instrumental in founding a rugby school league in Montreal and organized a regional football league.

When George Kennedy , the then owner of the Montréal Canadiens , met Calder, he was so impressed by his open manner that he campaigned for Calder to get a post with the National Hockey Association . When the league was dissolved in 1917 and the National Hockey League was founded, the vast majority of those in charge agreed that Calder should be president of the new league.

As one of his first acts, he tried to have a team in Toronto at the start of the new league and brought the Toronto Arenas into the NHL. He was instrumental in the league's expansion into the United States and reviewed applications from such well-known clubs as the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks . Economic crises and the beginning of the Second World War also fell during his term of office . Through skillful action, Calder maneuvered the league through these difficult times and ensured that the league was not subjected to any major damage.

He was also the driving force behind the first two NHL All-Star Games in favor of Ace Bailey and Howie Morenz , signaling that the league was committed to the interests of their players.

In 1943 he was honored on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the league, but he was physically ailing from the efforts he made for the league. The very attempt to reconcile the interests of the League with the requirements that the military placed on the country during wartime had exhausted him very much. At a meeting of the league he succumbed to the consequences of a heart attack.

Calder has been honoring the league's best young players since 1933 . After his death, the Calder Memorial Trophy , previously known only as the Calder Trophy , was introduced to continue this tradition. The American Hockey League also honored Calder by annually awarding the Calder Cup to the league's champion.

Calder is buried in the Mont-Royal Cemetery in Montreal. In 1947 he was honored with the induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame .

Web links

• Frank Calder in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)