Timiskaming Professional Hockey League
Encyclopedia
The Timiskaming Professional Hockey League (TPHL) was a minor professional
ice hockey
league based in the area of Lake Timiskaming
, Canada
. Founded in 1906, the league is notable for providing teams and Ambrose O'Brien, the founder of the National Hockey Association
, which became today's National Hockey League
.
, Canada
. Owned by wealthy mine owners, the league paid its players, one of the few leagues to do so at the time. The games between teams served as the basis for high-stakes gambling between the owners, players and the public. 'Ringers' from the southern ice hockey
leagues would be paid to join the teams for a single game, hoping to garner large gambling profits for the team owners.
In a 1909 game between Haileybury and Cobalt at Cobalt, over $10,000 dollars was in the pot in bets. Haileybury won 6–5 in overtime, with five of the six goals scored by Harry Smith
who had been lured from the Montreal Wanderers
of the Eastern Canada Hockey Association.
The use of 'ringers' had one negative effect on the league. The league challenged for the Stanley Cup
twice in 1909 and was rejected twice by the Stanley Cup trustees because of the 'ineligible' players on Cobalt, the 1909 champion. The trustees implemented a rule that players had to be a member of the team at the start of season, set at January 2.
Just before the 1910 season, the league dissolved so that two of its teams, Cobalt and Haileybury would help to form the National Hockey Association. The owner of the two teams Ambrose O'Brien, along with his family's money financed four teams in the NHA, including the Renfrew Millionaires and the Montreal Canadiens
, then known as 'Les Canadiens'. In 1910, after their NHA franchises were dealt away, the TPHL resumed play and Cobalt and Haileybury returned to the league for the 1910–11 season before ending operations.
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...
league based in the area of Lake Timiskaming
Lake Timiskaming
Lake Timiskaming is a large freshwater lake on the provincial border between Ontario and Quebec, Canada. The lake, which forms part of the Ottawa River, is in length and covers an area of almost . Its water level ranges between and above sea-level, with a mean annual average of . The lake is...
, Canada
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...
. Founded in 1906, the league is notable for providing teams and Ambrose O'Brien, the founder of the 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...
, which became today's 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...
.
History
The league was founded in the early 1900s in the mining towns of Northern OntarioOntario
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....
, Canada
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...
. Owned by wealthy mine owners, the league paid its players, one of the few leagues to do so at the time. The games between teams served as the basis for high-stakes gambling between the owners, players and the public. 'Ringers' from the southern 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...
leagues would be paid to join the teams for a single game, hoping to garner large gambling profits for the team owners.
In a 1909 game between Haileybury and Cobalt at Cobalt, over $10,000 dollars was in the pot in bets. Haileybury won 6–5 in overtime, with five of the six goals scored by Harry Smith
Harry Smith (ice hockey)
Harold Henry "Harry" Smith was a professional Canadian ice hockey player who played 98 games in various professional and amateur leagues, including the National Hockey Association and Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association...
who had been lured from the 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...
of the Eastern Canada Hockey Association.
The use of 'ringers' had one negative effect on the league. The league challenged for 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 in 1909 and was rejected twice by the Stanley Cup trustees because of the 'ineligible' players on Cobalt, the 1909 champion. The trustees implemented a rule that players had to be a member of the team at the start of season, set at January 2.
Just before the 1910 season, the league dissolved so that two of its teams, Cobalt and Haileybury would help to form the National Hockey Association. The owner of the two teams Ambrose O'Brien, along with his family's money financed four teams in the NHA, including the Renfrew Millionaires 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 ...
, then known as 'Les Canadiens'. In 1910, after their NHA franchises were dealt away, the TPHL resumed play and Cobalt and Haileybury returned to the league for the 1910–11 season before ending operations.
Teams
- Cobalt Silver KingsCobalt Silver KingsThe Cobalt Silver Kings are a defunct ice hockey club which played in Cobalt, Ontario, Canada from 1906 to 1911, notably during the 1910 NHA season, founding season of the National Hockey Association forerunner of today's National Hockey League...
- 1906 – 1911 - Haileybury Comets - 1906– 1911
- New Liskeard, Ontario - 1906–07
- Latchford, OntarioLatchford, OntarioLatchford is a Single-tier municipality town in Timiskaming District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on Bay Lake on the Montreal River near the town of Cobalt and the municipality of Temagami, and is 20 kilometres from the city of Temiskaming Shores. The population of the town in...
- 1906–07 - North Bay, OntarioNorth Bay, OntarioNorth Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing.-History:...
- 1910–11
Notable players
These may have been 'ringers' imported for single games:- Ed Decarie - Cobalt 1906-07
- Newsy LalondeNewsy LalondeÉdouard 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...
- Cobalt 1906-07, Haileybury 1907-08 - Bert LindsayBert LindsayLeslie Bertrand Lindsay was a professional ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey Association , Pacific Coast Hockey Association and National Hockey League...
- Latchford 1906–07 - Hugh Lehman - Cobalt 1906-07
- Didier PitreDidier PitreJoseph George Didier "Cannonball" Pitre was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He was nicked named "Cannonball". One of the first players to join the Montreal Canadiens, Pitre's French-Canadian heritage helped give his line-mates the nickname the Flying Frenchmen, brought upon by his...
- Cobalt 1906-07 - Bruce RidpathBruce RidpathDavid Bruce Ridpath was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and general manager. He was a member of the 1911 Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Senators before an automobile accident ended his playing career....
- Cobalt 1906-07, 1908–09 - Bobby RoweBobby Rowe (ice hockey)Robert Price "Stubby" Rowe was a professional ice hockey player who played 4 games in the National Hockey League and 283 games in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. He played for the Boston Bruins and Seattle Metropolitans...
- Latchford 1906–07, Haileybury 1908–09 - Art RossArt RossArthur Howey "Art" Ross was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman and executive from 1905 until 1954. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his era by his peers, he was one of the first to skate with the puck up the ice rather than pass it to a forward...
- Cobalt 1908–09 - Harry SmithHarry Smith (ice hockey)Harold Henry "Harry" Smith was a professional Canadian ice hockey player who played 98 games in various professional and amateur leagues, including the National Hockey Association and Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association...
- Haileybury 1908–09