Cyclone Taylor
Encyclopedia
Frederick Wellington "Cyclone" Taylor, OBE, (June 23, 1884 – June 9, 1979) was a Canadian
professional
ice hockey
player and civil servant. Taylor was one of the earliest professional players. He played professionally for the Portage Lakes Hockey Club
, the Ottawa Hockey Club
and the Vancouver Millionaires
(later named the Maroons) from 1905 to 1923. Acknowledged as one of the first stars of hockey, Taylor was one of the most prolific scorers of his era. He won several scoring championships, and won the Stanley Cup
twice, once in 1909 with Ottawa and again in 1915 with Vancouver. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
in 1947. While in Ottawa in 1907, Taylor gained employment with the Canadian government. He maintained this employment after his career in hockey, later becoming Commissioner of Immigration for British Columbia and the Yukon.
, Ontario
, the second son and fourth of five children to Archie and Mary Taylor. Archie, the son of Scottish immigrants, was a traveling salesman who sold farm equipment. Mary, a devout Methodist, stayed at home and raised the children. At the age of six, Taylor moved with his family to Listowel, a town fifty miles south of Tara. In Listowel he played for the junior and intermediate teams in the Ontario Hockey Association
. In the 1904–05 season, he joined a team in Thessalon, Ontario
led by Grindy Forrester when a dispute broke out as to which team held his OHA rights. The OHA, led by secretary W. A. Hewitt, refused to grant Taylor a change of residence permit and banned him from playing in the OHA. He applied for reinstatement, but was denied, and remained in Thessalon through the winter. According to some sources, Hewitt wanted Taylor to play for the Toronto Marlboros and blocked his attempts to play for other teams.
. Several teams in the new International Professional Hockey League
tried to get Taylor to join them, including Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
and Calumet, Michigan
, which even got Taylor to sign a contract. But in February 1906 he ended up reuniting with Forrester on the Portage Lake team, based in Houghton, Michigan
. The team won the league championship with Taylor playing point. He had started as a forward, but was too fast for his linemates to keep up with him. Player salaries outpaced revenue in the league and the IPHL went out of business in 1907.
Taylor then joined the Ottawa Hockey Club
of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
, for whom he played two seasons, for an annual salary and the promise of a civil service job. While playing for Ottawa in 1907, the Governor General
gave him the nickname "Cyclone", based on his skating ability. In December 1907, it was reported that Taylor had been offered $1,500 to leave Ottawa and play for the team in Renfrew, Ontario
for the 1907–08 season. He declined the offer.
Taylor played lacrosse in 1908 for the Ottawa Capitals. On June 27, 1908, he was arrested during a game for punching referee Tom Carlind in the face after receiving a penalty. The referee would not press charges, but the league president was in attendance and recommended that Taylor be given a lifetime suspension from the National Lacrosse Union. The league governors only issued a censure. The team expected Taylor to join them the following season, but he chose to focus on his job and hockey. He tried to return to the Capitals in 1910, but was released by the team. He played for the Caps in 1911.
At the start of the 1908–09 season, Taylor was given a month's vacation from his government job in Ottawa and went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
to play in the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League
. The WPHL season opened in mid-November, so Taylor could play there for a month and not miss any of Ottawa's ECAHA games.
In December 1909, coming off a Stanley Cup winning season in Ottawa, it was reported that Taylor had a falling out with the club over his government job and his demand for more money. The Renfrew Hockey Club
of the new National Hockey Association
(NHA) announced that they had signed Taylor, but a week later Taylor said that he had decided to stay in Ottawa. After another week, Taylor changed his mind and said he would join Renfrew, signing for a reported $5,250 for one season (because of the high salaries the players got, the fans called them the Renfrew Millionaires). This made him the highest paid Canadian athlete, and he made more money than the Canadian prime minister.
At the same time, Lester Patrick
was given a similar contract to join the Renfrew team, along with his brother, Frank Patrick
. Newsy Lalonde
joined the team mid-season. Despite the high-priced talent, with four future hall-of-famers in their starting seven, Renfrew finished third. It was reported at the end of February 1910 that the team would lose $17,000 during the season and was in danger of folding. The team played one more season—with significantly reduced salaries, and without the Patricks and Lalonde—and then disbanded.
It was during his playing days at Renfrew that a legend developed around Taylor. Before his first appearance in a game for Renfrew in Ottawa, Taylor claimed that he would score a goal against Ottawa while skating backwards. In the actual game, he did not score. However, in a later game in Renfrew against Ottawa, Taylor did score a back-hand goal while skating backwards and the legend was born. However, Taylor himself long disputed the legend, saying he made the comments as a joke, and his famous "backwards" goal, only involved a brief period of backward skating and the actual goal was scored just like any other.
In 1911, Taylor became the property of Sam Lichtenhein and the NHA Montreal Wanderers
. Lichtenhein wanted Taylor as a drawing card in Montreal, but, in November 1911, Taylor said he would sooner retire from hockey than join the Wanderers. To the uproar of the Wanderers, he played for Ottawa against the Wanderers on January 24, 1912. Taylor's play was so poor, he was replaced after one period, with Montreal leading 2-0. Ottawa came back to win the game, 10-6. The Wanderers formally protested and the game was ordered replayed. Taylor and the Ottawa team were each fined $100 by the league and Taylor was given an indefinite suspension. However, despite this, at the end of the season in March, Taylor was selected for an NHA All-Star team which played against the three PCHA teams in British Columbia
.
Meanwhile, the Pacific Coast Hockey Association
(PCHA) was formed by Taylor's former teammates, Lester and Frank Patrick. They encouraged Taylor to come west. In November 1912, it was announced that he would be paid $1,200 to join the Vancouver Millionaires
. As he prepared to leave for the west coast, Taylor said he would not play in the NHA again under any circumstances. Before he left, Taylor said one of the two new Toronto teams in the NHA was owned by Lichtenhein, who was plotting to send Taylor to Toronto and prevent him from playing for Ottawa. The accusation was denied by the presidents of both Toronto teams and by Lichtenhein, who all said he had no ownership stake in either team.
In Vancouver, Taylor was moved from cover-point (defence) to centre, a position he played the rest of his career. Taylor helped lead the Millionaires to their only Stanley Cup
victory in 1915. He won five scoring titles in the PCHA, including 32 goals in 18 games in 1917–18
. He ended his career in 1921, but came back for one more game in 1922–23
. Taylor was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
in 1947.
Taylor remained involved in hockey after he stopped playing. He was president of the Pacific Coast Hockey League
from 1936 to 1940. Taylor helped start the B.C. Hockey Benevolent Association in the 1950s, and served as a director until his death. He dropped the puck in the ceremonial faceoff that preceded the expansion Vancouver Canucks
' first home game when the expansion team joined the National Hockey League
(NHL) in 1970. Taylor was a fixture at Canucks games, sitting in the crowd with his Homberg hat.
he kept his job with the branch. In 1914, Taylor was involved, as the No. 3 immigration officer in Vancouver, in the infamous Komagata Maru incident. In the incident, a steamship of 376 Hindu
, Muslim
and Sikh
immigrants were not permitted to land and the steamship was forced to return to India
. Taylor later became the Commissioner of Immigration for British Columbia
and the Yukon, a position he held until his retirement in 1950. In 1949, Taylor was named as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire
for outstanding service to the country and community as an immigration officer in two wars.
Taylor ran unsuccessfully for election, as a member of the B.C. Progressive Conservative party
, in the Vancouver Centre
riding in the 1952 British Columbia general election
, where he finished fourth of six candidates. He again ran in the Vancouver Centre riding in the 1953 British Columbia general election
, where he had 1,007 votes for 5.27% of the ballots, and again finished fourth of six candidates. He was elected to one term as a member of the Vancouver Parks Board.
His retirement years featured some painful moments with the death of his mother in 1934, and not being able to make it to her funeral, the death of his wife — whom he had married in 1914 — from a heart seizure in 1963 and the death of his youngest child, Joan Franklin, in 1976 due to a heart weakness brought on by stringent dieting in her days as a figure skater. Taylor is also reported to have been a Freemason
.
After breaking his hip in 1978, his health deteriorated and he died in his sleep in Vancouver on June 9, 1979 — two weeks short of his 95th birthday. In pre-game ceremonies prior to the first game of the 1979–80 season, he was honoured by the Canucks and the team's award for most valuable player was renamed the Cyclone Taylor Award.
, was a lawyer
in Vancouver who was involved in immigration law
cases until his retirement in 1988. A grandson, Mark Taylor, played in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, from 1981 to 1986.
A hockey arena in Vancouver is named after Taylor. In his birth place of Tara, Ontario, the arena is named in his honor. Furthermore, in Ottawa, a street surrounding the Ottawa Senators
arena, Scotiabank Place
is named after Taylor.
The Jr. B hockey team in Listowel, Ontario is named after Taylor.
‡ Taylor played one period in game January 24, 1912 versus Montreal Wanderers
. Taylor's rights belonged to Montreal, but he refused to leave Ottawa to join Montreal. The Wanderers protested and the game was ordered replayed without Taylor.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
player and civil servant. Taylor was one of the earliest professional players. He played professionally for the Portage Lakes Hockey Club
Portage Lakes Hockey Club
The Portage Lakes Hockey Club was one of the first professional ice hockey clubs. Based in Houghton, Michigan, the club played at the Amphidrome from 1904 until 1906...
, the Ottawa Hockey Club
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...
and the Vancouver Millionaires
Vancouver Millionaires
The Vancouver Millionaires were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926...
(later named the Maroons) from 1905 to 1923. Acknowledged as one of the first stars of hockey, Taylor was one of the most prolific scorers of his era. He won several scoring championships, and won the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
twice, once in 1909 with Ottawa and again in 1915 with Vancouver. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
in 1947. While in Ottawa in 1907, Taylor gained employment with the Canadian government. He maintained this employment after his career in hockey, later becoming Commissioner of Immigration for British Columbia and the Yukon.
Early life
Frederick Wellington was born in TaraTara, Ontario
Tara is an unincorporated community in southwestern Ontario, Canada. At the 2006 census, it had 989 residents and 435 dwellings. Within the municipality of Arran-Elderslie, it is a designated place located on the Sauble River, with an area of 2.39 km², and an urban area that covers...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, the second son and fourth of five children to Archie and Mary Taylor. Archie, the son of Scottish immigrants, was a traveling salesman who sold farm equipment. Mary, a devout Methodist, stayed at home and raised the children. At the age of six, Taylor moved with his family to Listowel, a town fifty miles south of Tara. In Listowel he played for the junior and intermediate teams in the Ontario Hockey Association
Ontario Hockey Association
The Ontario Hockey Association is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. Other Ontario sanctioning bodies along with the...
. In the 1904–05 season, he joined a team in Thessalon, Ontario
Thessalon, Ontario
Thessalon is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located at the junction of Highway 17 and Highway 129. It is surrounded by but not part of the municipality of Huron Shores, and is part of the District of Algoma....
led by Grindy Forrester when a dispute broke out as to which team held his OHA rights. The OHA, led by secretary W. A. Hewitt, refused to grant Taylor a change of residence permit and banned him from playing in the OHA. He applied for reinstatement, but was denied, and remained in Thessalon through the winter. According to some sources, Hewitt wanted Taylor to play for the Toronto Marlboros and blocked his attempts to play for other teams.
Hockey career
For the 1905–06 season, Taylor played a handful of games for Portage la Prairie in ManitobaManitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
. Several teams in the new International Professional Hockey League
International Professional Hockey League
The International Professional Hockey League was the first fully professional ice hockey league, operating from 1904 to 1907. It was formed by Jack 'Doc' Gibson, a dentist who played hockey throughout Ontario before settling in Houghton, Michigan. The IPHL was a five team circuit which included...
tried to get Taylor to join them, including Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
and Calumet, Michigan
Calumet, Michigan
Calumet is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry of the Upper Peninsula. Also known as Red Jacket, the village includes the Calumet Downtown Historic District, listed on the National...
, which even got Taylor to sign a contract. But in February 1906 he ended up reuniting with Forrester on the Portage Lake team, based in Houghton, Michigan
Houghton, Michigan
Houghton is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and largest city in the Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,708. It is the county seat of Houghton County...
. The team won the league championship with Taylor playing point. He had started as a forward, but was too fast for his linemates to keep up with him. Player salaries outpaced revenue in the league and the IPHL went out of business in 1907.
Taylor then joined the Ottawa Hockey Club
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...
of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association was a men's amateur, later professional ice hockey league in Canada that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11, 1905 with six clubs: four from the Canadian Amateur Hockey League and two from the Federal Amateur Hockey League, to bring...
, for whom he played two seasons, for an annual salary and the promise of a civil service job. While playing for Ottawa in 1907, the Governor General
Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey
Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl Grey was a British nobleman and politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the ninth since Canadian Confederation....
gave him the nickname "Cyclone", based on his skating ability. In December 1907, it was reported that Taylor had been offered $1,500 to leave Ottawa and play for the team in Renfrew, Ontario
Renfrew, Ontario
Renfrew, Ontario, Canada, is a town on the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County. Located one hour west of Ottawa in Eastern Ontario, Renfrew is the third largest town in the county after Petawawa and Pembroke. The town is a small transportation hub connecting Ontario Highway 60 and Highway 132 with...
for the 1907–08 season. He declined the offer.
Taylor played lacrosse in 1908 for the Ottawa Capitals. On June 27, 1908, he was arrested during a game for punching referee Tom Carlind in the face after receiving a penalty. The referee would not press charges, but the league president was in attendance and recommended that Taylor be given a lifetime suspension from the National Lacrosse Union. The league governors only issued a censure. The team expected Taylor to join them the following season, but he chose to focus on his job and hockey. He tried to return to the Capitals in 1910, but was released by the team. He played for the Caps in 1911.
At the start of the 1908–09 season, Taylor was given a month's vacation from his government job in Ottawa and went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
to play in the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League
Western Pennsylvania Hockey League
The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League , was a semi-professional ice hockey league from the early 1900s. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the league was the pre-eminent ice hockey league at the time in the United States...
. The WPHL season opened in mid-November, so Taylor could play there for a month and not miss any of Ottawa's ECAHA games.
In December 1909, coming off a Stanley Cup winning season in Ottawa, it was reported that Taylor had a falling out with the club over his government job and his demand for more money. The Renfrew Hockey Club
Renfrew Creamery Kings
The Renfrew Hockey Club, also known as the Creamery Kings and the "Renfrew Millionaires" was a founding franchise in 1909 of the National Hockey Association, the precursor to the National Hockey League...
of the new National Hockey Association
National Hockey Association
The National Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor organization to today's National Hockey League...
(NHA) announced that they had signed Taylor, but a week later Taylor said that he had decided to stay in Ottawa. After another week, Taylor changed his mind and said he would join Renfrew, signing for a reported $5,250 for one season (because of the high salaries the players got, the fans called them the Renfrew Millionaires). This made him the highest paid Canadian athlete, and he made more money than the Canadian prime minister.
Lester Patrick
Curtis Lester "The Silver Fox" Patrick born in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, was a professional ice hockey player and coach associated with the Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association , and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League...
was given a similar contract to join the Renfrew team, along with his brother, Frank Patrick
Frank Patrick (hockey)
Francis Alexis Patrick was a Canadian NHL ice hockey player and head coach. While attending McGill University, he played hockey from 1904 to 1908, winning the Queen’s Cup championship in 1905 alongside his brother Lester Patrick.Frank and Lester helped found the Pacific Coast Hockey Association...
. Newsy Lalonde
Newsy Lalonde
Édouard Cyrille "Newsy" Lalonde was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League and a professional lacrosse player, regarded as one of hockey's and lacrosse's greatest players of the first half of the 20th century and one of sport's most colourful characters...
joined the team mid-season. Despite the high-priced talent, with four future hall-of-famers in their starting seven, Renfrew finished third. It was reported at the end of February 1910 that the team would lose $17,000 during the season and was in danger of folding. The team played one more season—with significantly reduced salaries, and without the Patricks and Lalonde—and then disbanded.
It was during his playing days at Renfrew that a legend developed around Taylor. Before his first appearance in a game for Renfrew in Ottawa, Taylor claimed that he would score a goal against Ottawa while skating backwards. In the actual game, he did not score. However, in a later game in Renfrew against Ottawa, Taylor did score a back-hand goal while skating backwards and the legend was born. However, Taylor himself long disputed the legend, saying he made the comments as a joke, and his famous "backwards" goal, only involved a brief period of backward skating and the actual goal was scored just like any other.
In 1911, Taylor became the property of Sam Lichtenhein and the NHA Montreal Wanderers
Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...
. Lichtenhein wanted Taylor as a drawing card in Montreal, but, in November 1911, Taylor said he would sooner retire from hockey than join the Wanderers. To the uproar of the Wanderers, he played for Ottawa against the Wanderers on January 24, 1912. Taylor's play was so poor, he was replaced after one period, with Montreal leading 2-0. Ottawa came back to win the game, 10-6. The Wanderers formally protested and the game was ordered replayed. Taylor and the Ottawa team were each fined $100 by the league and Taylor was given an indefinite suspension. However, despite this, at the end of the season in March, Taylor was selected for an NHA All-Star team which played against the three PCHA teams in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
Pacific Coast Hockey Association
The Pacific Coast Hockey Association was a professional men's ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League...
(PCHA) was formed by Taylor's former teammates, Lester and Frank Patrick. They encouraged Taylor to come west. In November 1912, it was announced that he would be paid $1,200 to join the Vancouver Millionaires
Vancouver Millionaires
The Vancouver Millionaires were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926...
. As he prepared to leave for the west coast, Taylor said he would not play in the NHA again under any circumstances. Before he left, Taylor said one of the two new Toronto teams in the NHA was owned by Lichtenhein, who was plotting to send Taylor to Toronto and prevent him from playing for Ottawa. The accusation was denied by the presidents of both Toronto teams and by Lichtenhein, who all said he had no ownership stake in either team.
In Vancouver, Taylor was moved from cover-point (defence) to centre, a position he played the rest of his career. Taylor helped lead the Millionaires to their only Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
victory in 1915. He won five scoring titles in the PCHA, including 32 goals in 18 games in 1917–18
1917–18 PCHA season
The 1917–18 PCHA season was the seventh season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 28, 1917 until March 8, 1918. The season was reduced to 18 games per team. The Seattle Metropolitans club would be regular-season PCHA...
. He ended his career in 1921, but came back for one more game in 1922–23
1922–23 PCHA season
The 1922–23 PCHA season was the twelfth season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from November 13, 1922 until March 2, 1923...
. Taylor was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
in 1947.
Taylor remained involved in hockey after he stopped playing. He was president of the Pacific Coast Hockey League
Pacific Coast Hockey League
The Pacific Coast Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed in several incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952.-PCHL 1928-1931:...
from 1936 to 1940. Taylor helped start the B.C. Hockey Benevolent Association in the 1950s, and served as a director until his death. He dropped the puck in the ceremonial faceoff that preceded the expansion Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
' first home game when the expansion team joined the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL) in 1970. Taylor was a fixture at Canucks games, sitting in the crowd with his Homberg hat.
After hockey
Taylor joined the Canadian Immigration Branch in October, 1907, a job that was arranged as an inducement to get Taylor to play for the Ottawa Hockey Club. When Taylor moved to VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
he kept his job with the branch. In 1914, Taylor was involved, as the No. 3 immigration officer in Vancouver, in the infamous Komagata Maru incident. In the incident, a steamship of 376 Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
, Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
immigrants were not permitted to land and the steamship was forced to return to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Taylor later became the Commissioner of Immigration for British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and the Yukon, a position he held until his retirement in 1950. In 1949, Taylor was named as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for outstanding service to the country and community as an immigration officer in two wars.
Taylor ran unsuccessfully for election, as a member of the B.C. Progressive Conservative party
British Columbia Conservative Party
The British Columbia Conservative Party is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected as the government in 1903, the party went into decline after 1933...
, in the Vancouver Centre
Vancouver Centre (provincial electoral district)
Vancouver Centre was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created before the general election of 1933. It and the other new Vancouver ridings in this year, Vancouver-Burrard, Vancouver-Point Grey and Vancouver East, were created from the...
riding in the 1952 British Columbia general election
British Columbia general election, 1952
The British Columbia general election, 1952 was the 23rd general election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 10, 1952, and held on June 12, 1952. The new legislature met for the...
, where he finished fourth of six candidates. He again ran in the Vancouver Centre riding in the 1953 British Columbia general election
British Columbia general election, 1953
The British Columbia general election of 1953 was the 24th general election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 10, 1953, and held on June 9, 1953...
, where he had 1,007 votes for 5.27% of the ballots, and again finished fourth of six candidates. He was elected to one term as a member of the Vancouver Parks Board.
His retirement years featured some painful moments with the death of his mother in 1934, and not being able to make it to her funeral, the death of his wife — whom he had married in 1914 — from a heart seizure in 1963 and the death of his youngest child, Joan Franklin, in 1976 due to a heart weakness brought on by stringent dieting in her days as a figure skater. Taylor is also reported to have been a Freemason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
.
After breaking his hip in 1978, his health deteriorated and he died in his sleep in Vancouver on June 9, 1979 — two weeks short of his 95th birthday. In pre-game ceremonies prior to the first game of the 1979–80 season, he was honoured by the Canucks and the team's award for most valuable player was renamed the Cyclone Taylor Award.
Legacy
There is a chain of popular hockey equipment stores in Greater Vancouver named "Cyclone Taylor Sports", which were started by Taylor's oldest son, Fred Taylor Jr., in 1957. His second son, John TaylorJohn Russell Taylor (Canadian politician)
John Russell Taylor was a Canadian politician. He was the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament from Vancouver—Burrard from 1957 to 1962.Taylor was defeated in the 1963 general election...
, was a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in Vancouver who was involved in immigration law
Immigration law
Immigration law refers to national government policies which control the phenomenon of immigration to their country.Immigraton law, regarding foreign citizens, is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people, in matters such as citizenship...
cases until his retirement in 1988. A grandson, Mark Taylor, played in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, from 1981 to 1986.
A hockey arena in Vancouver is named after Taylor. In his birth place of Tara, Ontario, the arena is named in his honor. Furthermore, in Ottawa, a street surrounding the Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
arena, Scotiabank Place
Scotiabank Place
Scotiabank Place is a multi-purpose arena, located in Kanata, a suburban district of Ottawa, Ontario. It is home to the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. It has also hosted the Canadian University Men's Basketball Championship...
is named after Taylor.
The Jr. B hockey team in Listowel, Ontario is named after Taylor.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an... | Team | League | GP | G Goal (ice hockey) In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to... | A Assist (ice hockey) In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal... | Pts Point (ice hockey) Point in ice hockey has three official meanings:* A point is awarded to a player for each goal scored or assist earned. The total number of goals plus assists equals total points. In some European leagues, a goal counts as two points, and an assist counts as one... | PIM Penalty (ice hockey) A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,... |
GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1902–03 | Listowel Hockey Club | OHA Jr. Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League is one of the three Major Junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 15-20.The OHL also operates under the Ontario Hockey Federation of Hockey Canada.... |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1903–04 | Listowel Hockey Club | OHA | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1904–05 | Suspended by OHA | |||||||||||||
| 1905–06 | Portage la Prairie | MHA Manitoba Hockey Association The Manitoba Hockey Association was an early men's senior ice hockey league playing around 1900 in Manitoba, Canada. The league started as an elite amateur league in 1892, became professional in 1905, had a professional and an amateur league in 1908–09 and only an amateur league from 1909 until... |
4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1905–06 1905–06 IPHL season The 1905–06 WPHL season was played by teams of the International Professional Hockey League.-Final standings:-References:* Compiled by Ernie Fitzsimmons... |
Portage Lakes Hockey Club Portage Lakes Hockey Club The Portage Lakes Hockey Club was one of the first professional ice hockey clubs. Based in Houghton, Michigan, the club played at the Amphidrome from 1904 until 1906... |
IHL International Professional Hockey League The International Professional Hockey League was the first fully professional ice hockey league, operating from 1904 to 1907. It was formed by Jack 'Doc' Gibson, a dentist who played hockey throughout Ontario before settling in Houghton, Michigan. The IPHL was a five team circuit which included... |
6 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1906–07 1906–07 IPHL season The 1906–07 WPHL season was played by teams of the International Professional Hockey League.-Final standings:-References:* Compiled by Ernie Fitzsimmons... |
Portage Lakes Hockey Club | IHL | 23 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1907–08 1907–08 ECAHA season The 1907–08 Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association season lasted from December 29, 1907 until March 7, 1908. Teams played a ten game schedule. The Montreal Wanderers would win the league championship with a record of eight wins, two losses.... |
Ottawa Hockey Club Ottawa Senators (original) The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934... |
ECAHA | 10 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1908–09 | Pittsburgh PAC | WPHL Western Pennsylvania Hockey League The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League , was a semi-professional ice hockey league from the early 1900s. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the league was the pre-eminent ice hockey league at the time in the United States... |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1908–09 1909 ECAHA season The 1909 Eastern Canadian Hockey Association season lasted from January 2 until March 6. Teams played a twelve game schedule. The Ottawa Senators would win the league championship with a record of ten wins, two losses and take over the Stanley Cup.... |
Ottawa Hockey Club | ECAHA | 11 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1909–10 1910 NHA season The 1910 NHA season was the first season of the National Hockey Association men's ice hockey league. The season started on January 5, but was suspended immediately and the league then absorbed the Ottawa and Shamrocks teams of the Canadian Hockey Association and the season continued from January 15... |
Renfrew Creamery Kings Renfrew Creamery Kings The Renfrew Hockey Club, also known as the Creamery Kings and the "Renfrew Millionaires" was a founding franchise in 1909 of the National Hockey Association, the precursor to the National Hockey League... |
NHA National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor organization to today's National Hockey League... |
13 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1910–11 | Renfrew Creamery Kings | NHA | 16 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1911–12 | Ottawa Hockey Club | NHA | 1‡ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1912–13 1912–13 PCHA season The 1912–13 PCHA season was the second season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 10, 1912 until March 18, 1913. Like the previous season, teams were to play a 16 game schedule, but one game was cancelled. The Victoria... |
Vancouver Millionaires Vancouver Millionaires The Vancouver Millionaires were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926... |
PCHA | 14 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1913–14 1913–14 PCHA season The 1913–14 PCHA season was the third season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 5, 1913 until February 24, 1914. Like the previous two seasons, teams were to play a 16 game schedule, but one game was cancelled. The Victoria... |
Vancouver Millionaries | PCHA | 16 | 24 | 15 | 39 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1914–15 1914–15 PCHA season The 1914–15 PCHA season was the fourth season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 8, 1914 until March 9, 1915. The schedule was made for each team to play 18 games, but like the previous three seasons, one game was cancelled.... |
Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 16 | 23 | 22 | 45 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 3 | ||
| 1915–16 1915–16 PCHA season The 1915–16 PCHA season was the fifth season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 7, 1915 until February 25, 1916. Each team would play 18 games. The Portland Rosebuds club would be PCHA champions. After the season the club... |
Vancouver Millionaries | PCHA | 18 | 22 | 13 | 35 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1916–17 1916–17 PCHA season The 1916–17 PCHA season was the sixth season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 1, 1916 until March 2, 1917. The season was expanded to 24 games per team, except that the final game was cancelled. The Seattle Metropolitans... |
Vancouver Millionaries | PCHA | 12 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1917–18 1917–18 PCHA season The 1917–18 PCHA season was the seventh season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 28, 1917 until March 8, 1918. The season was reduced to 18 games per team. The Seattle Metropolitans club would be regular-season PCHA... |
Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 18 | 32 | 11 | 43 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 15 | ||
| 1918–19 1919 PCHA season The 1919 PCHA season was the eighth season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from January 1 until March 10. The season was increased to 20 games per team.... |
Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 20 | 23 | 13 | 36 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | > 0 | |||
| 1919–20 1919–20 PCHA season The 1919–20 PCHA season was the ninth season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 26, 1919 until March 10, 1920. The season was enlarged to 22 games per team... |
Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 10 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1920–21 | Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1922–23 1922–23 PCHA season The 1922–23 PCHA season was the twelfth season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from November 13, 1922 until March 2, 1923... |
Vancouver Maroons | PCHA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHA totals | 29 | 21 | 4 | 25 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| PCHA totals | 131 | 159 | 104 | 263 | 59 | 16 | 17 | 6 | 23 | 18 | ||||
‡ Taylor played one period in game January 24, 1912 versus Montreal Wanderers
Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...
. Taylor's rights belonged to Montreal, but he refused to leave Ottawa to join Montreal. The Wanderers protested and the game was ordered replayed without Taylor.