Elmer Ferguson was a Canadian sports journalist. Born in Charlottetown

Charlottetown

Charlottetown is a Canadian city. It is both the largest city on and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885...

, Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

, Ferguson moved to Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 in 1910 and became the sports editor of the Montreal Herald in 1913. Ferguson was one of the most respected and promiant columnists of his time. He became a 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...

 media honouree in 1982 and was the namesake of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award

Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award

The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is an award given "in recognition of distinguished members of the newspaper profession whose words have brought honour to journalism and to hockey". Recipients are selected by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and gain automatic entrance into the Hockey...

.

Career

At the age of six, Ferguson started selling newspapers on the streets of Moncton, New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

 and became a copy boy with the Moncton Transcript when he was 17. He soon became a sports writer with the paper and became the news editor in 1910. With Ferguson as editor, the Moncton Transcript became the first Maritime

Maritimes

The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...

 newspaper to print a full sports page every day.

Soon after, Ferguson left for Montreal where he got a job as an editor at the Montreal Herald. He became sports editor of the paper in 1913 and soon became a well known sports journalist with his column "The Gist and the Jest of It". He was sports editor for the paper for 39 years and continued to write columns until the Herald folded in 1957. He continued to write columns for The Montreal Star until a few months before his death in 1972.

In addition to his work in the print media, he was also a colour commentator on radio broadcasts for the Montreal Maroons

Montreal Maroons

The Montreal Maroons was a professional men's ice hockey team in the National Hockey League . They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935...

 (1933–1938) and the Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

 (1938–1967), where he was partnered with 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...

 broadcasters Doug Smith

Doug Smith

Doug Smith may refer to:*Doug Smith , former MLB baseball player*Doug Smith , English flat racing jockey*Doug Smith , American former basketball player...

 and Danny Gallivan

Danny Gallivan

Danny Gallivan was a Canadian radio and television broadcaster and sportscaster.-Early life and career:Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Gallivan began his broadcast career at a local radio station in Antigonish, Nova Scotia while attending St. Francis Xavier University...

.

Ferguson was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established in 1955 to "preserve the record of Canadian sports achievements and to promote a greater awareness of Canada's heritage of sport." It is located at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta...

 as a builder in 1968. In 1984, Ferguson was recognized as one of the first 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...

 media honourees. The award that is given out was named the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award

Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award

The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is an award given "in recognition of distinguished members of the newspaper profession whose words have brought honour to journalism and to hockey". Recipients are selected by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and gain automatic entrance into the Hockey...

in his honour.