Art Ross

Arthur Howey "Art" Ross (January 13, 1885[a] – August 5, 1964) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman and executive from 1905 until 1954. Thought of as one of the best defenders of his time by his peers, he was one of the first to skate with the puck up the ice instead of passing it to a forward. He won the Stanley Cup twice in a playing career that lasted thirteen seasons; in January 1907 with the Kenora Thistles and 1908 with the Montreal Wanderers. Like other players of the time, Ross played for many teams and leagues, and is most familiar for when he played with the Wanderers while they were members of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and its successor, the National Hockey League (NHL). In 1911 he led one of the first player strikes over the players wanting more money. When the Wanderers' home arena burned down in January 1918, the team stopped playing so Ross retired as a player.

Art Ross
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1949
ArtRossWanderers.jpg
Born January 13, 1886
Naughton, ON, CAN
Died August 5, 1964(1964-08-05) (aged 78)
Medford, MA, USA
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Point/Defence
Shot Left
Played for Montreal Wanderers
Ottawa Senators
Haileybury Comets
Playing career 1905–1918

After working as an on-ice official for a few years, he became head coach of the Hamilton Tigers for one season. When the Boston Bruins were created in 1924, Ross was hired as the first coach and general manager of the team. He would go on to coach the team four different times until 1945 and stayed as general manager until his retirement in 1954. Ross helped the Bruins finish first place in the league ten times and to win the Stanley Cup three times; Ross coached the team to one of the Stanley Cup victories. After he was hired by the Bruins, Ross, along with his wife and two sons, moved to a city near Boston, and became an American citizen in 1938. He died near Boston in 1964.

Ross was also important in creating different inventions for hockey to make it better. He created a style of hockey puck still used today, and also created an improved style of goal nets, which were used for forty years. In 1947 Ross gave the NHL the Art Ross Trophy, which is given to the best scorer of the NHL regular season. In 1949, the Hockey Hall of Fame named Ross.[1][2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1902–03 Montreal Westmount CAHL
1903–04 Montreal Westmount CAHL
1904–05 Montreal Westmount CAHL 8 10 0 10
1905–06 Brandon Elks MHL 7 6 0 6
1906–07 Kenora Thistles St-Cup 2 0 0 0 10
1906–07 Brandon Elks MHL 10 6 3 9 11 2 1 0 1 3
1907–08 Montreal Wanderers ECAHA 10 8 0 8 27 5 3 0 3 23
1907–08 Pembroke Lumber Kings UOVHL 1 5 0 5
1908–09 Montreal Wanderers ECAHA 9 2 0 2 30 2 0 0 0 13
1908–09 Cobalt Silver Kings TPHL 2 1 0 1 0
1909–10 All-Montreal HC CHA 4 4 0 4 3
1909–10 Haileybury Comets NHA 12 6 0 6 25
1910–11 Montreal Wanderers NHA 11 4 0 4 24
1911–12 Montreal Wanderers NHA 18 16 0 16 35
1911–12 NHA All-Stars Exhib 3 4 0 4 0
1912–13 Montreal Wanderers NHA 19 11 0 11 58
1913–14 Montreal Wanderers NHA 18 4 5 9 74
1914–15 Ottawa Senators NHA 16 3 1 4 55 5 2 0 2 0
1915–16 Ottawa Senators NHA 21 8 8 16 69
1916–17 Montreal Wanderers NHA 16 6 2 8 66
1917–18 Montreal Wanderers NHL 3 1 0 1 12
ECAHA totals 19 10 0 10 57 7 3 0 3 36
NHA totals 131 56 16 72 406 5 2 0 2 0
NHL totals 3 1 0 1 12

*Playing stats from Total Hockey[3]

Coaching record

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GC W L T Finish GC W L T Result
1917–18 Montreal Wanderers NHL 6 1 5 0 6th, NHL
1922–23 Hamilton Tigers NHL 24 6 18 0 4th, NHL
1924–25 Boston Bruins NHL 30 6 24 0 6th, NHL
1925–26 Boston Bruins NHL 36 17 15 4 4th, NHL
1926–27 Boston Bruins NHL 44 21 20 3 2nd, American 8 2 2 4 Lost in Finals
1927–28 Boston Bruins NHL 44 20 13 11 1st, American 2 0 1 1 Lost in Semifinals
1929–30 Boston Bruins NHL 44 38 5 1 1st, American 6 3 3 0 Lost in Finals
1930–31 Boston Bruins NHL 44 28 10 6 1st, American 5 2 3 0 Lost in Semifinals
1931–32 Boston Bruins NHL 48 15 21 12 4th, American
1932–33 Boston Bruins NHL 48 25 15 8 1st, American 5 2 3 0 Lost in Semifinals
1933–34 Boston Bruins NHL 48 18 25 5 4th, American
1936–37 Boston Bruins NHL 48 23 18 7 2nd, American 3 1 2 Lost in Quarterfinals
1937–38 Boston Bruins NHL 48 30 11 7 1st, American 3 0 3 Lost in Semifinals
1938–39 Boston Bruins NHL 48 36 10 2 1st, NHL 12 8 4 Won Stanley Cup
1941–42 Boston Bruins NHL 48 25 17 6 3rd, NHL 5 2 3 Lost in Semifinals
1942–43 Boston Bruins NHL 50 24 17 9 2nd, NHL 9 4 5 Lost in Finals
1943–44 Boston Bruins NHL 50 19 26 5 5th, NHL
1944–45 Boston Bruins NHL 50 16 30 4 4th, NHL 7 3 4 Lost in Semifinals
NHL totals 758 368 300 90 65 27 33 5 One Stanley Cup

*Coaching stats from Total Hockey[4]

Awards

NHL

Award Year(s)
First All-Star Team Coach 1939
Second All-Star Team Coach 1938, 1943
Lester Patrick Trophy 1984

*Awards from Legends of Hockey[5]

Art Ross Media

Notes

  1. The date of Ross's birth is disputed. Many sources give the year of his birth as 1886. However Eric Zweig has noted this is unlikely, and has cited contemporary newspaper reports and archival materials to support 1885. The 1885 date was also used on the headstone of Ross's grave when it was replaced in 2014. See Zweig 2015, p. 21.

References

  • "Art Ross Given Banquet, To Become A US Citizen", Lewiston Evening Journal, Lewiston, Maine, Associated Press, 1938-04-22
  • "Favor Boston In Hockey", Reading Eagle, Reading, Pennsylvania, Associated Press, 1941-10-30
  • "Art Ross Gives Bruins' Side Of Buck Boucher's Dismissal", Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa, Associated Press, 1950-04-03
  • Canadian Press (1964-08-06), "Art Ross Dies at 79", The Gazette, Montreal
  • Canadian Sports Hall of Fame (2010), "Art Ross Page", SportsHall.ca, archived from the original on 2009-11-25, retrieved 2010-05-27
  • Diamond, Dan, ed. (February 2003), Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Hockey League, Second Edition, New York: Total Sports Publishing (published 2002), ISBN 1-894963-16-4
  • Goyens, Chrys; Orr, Frank (2000), Blades on Ice: A century of professional hockey, Markham, Ontario: Team Power Enterprises, ISBN 0-9686220-0-3
  • Hockey Hall of Fame (2003), Honoured Members, Bolton, Ontario: Fenn Publishing, ISBN 1-55168-239-7
  • Hockey Hall of Fame (2010), "Art Ross Page", LegendsofHockey.net, retrieved 2010-05-15
  • Hockey Hall of Fame (2010), "Art Ross Stats Page", LegendsofHockey.net, retrieved 2010-06-15
  • Holzman, Morey; Nieforth, Joseph (2002), Deceptions and Doublecross: How the NHL Conquered Hockey, Toronto: Dundurn Press, ISBN 1-55002-413-2
  • Hughes, Morgan; Fischler, Stan and Shirley; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003), Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League, Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International, Ltd., ISBN 0-7853-9624-1
  • Kitchen, Paul (2008), Win, Tie, or Wrangle: The Inside Story of the Old Ottawa Senators, 1883–1935, Manotic, Ontario: Penumbra Press, ISBN 978-1-897323-46-5
  • McKinley, Michael (2009), Hockey: A People's History, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, ISBN 978-0-7710-5771-7
  • McKinley, Michael (1993), Hockey Hall of Fame Legends: The Official Book, Toronto: Viking Press, ISBN 0-670-85258-9
  • McKinley, Michael (2000), Putting a Roof on Winter: Hockey's Rise from Sport to Spectacle, Vancouver: Greystone Books, ISBN 1-55054-798-4
  • National Hockey League (2009), National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2010, Toronto: Dan Diamond & Associates, Inc., ISBN 978-1-60078-303-6
  • Podnieks, Andrew (2004), Lord Stanley's Cup, Bolton, Ontario: Fenn Publishing, ISBN 1-55168-261-3
  • Podnieks, Andrew (2005), Silverware, Bolton, Ontario: Fenn Publishing, ISBN 978-1-55168-296-9
  • Podnieks, Andrew (2000), The NHL All-Star Game: Fifty Years of the Great Tradition, Toronto: HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-200058-X
  • Weir, Glenn; Chapman, Jeff; Weir, Travis (1999), Ultimate Hockey, Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, ISBN 0-7737-6057-1
  • Wesley, Sam; Wesley, David (2005), Hamilton's Hockey Tigers, Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, ISBN 978-1-55028-887-2

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