1920-21 Hamilton Tigers Joe Malone Jersey

After their peak in 1912 and 1913 when they were the holders of the Stanley Cup, the Quebec Bulldogs of the National Hockey Association ran into hard times. While posting winning records in 1914 and 1915, they failed to qualify for the playoffs both seasons. A losing record of 10-12 in 1916 foreshadowed the downfall that await the club. A dismal first half in 1916-17 saw the Bulldogs at 2-8, only to reverse their fortunes in the second half of the season at 8-2, yet fail to make the postseason once more.

The Quebec Bulldogs in brighter days with the Stanley Cup

After the conclusion of the 1916-17 schedule, the NHA disbanded, only to be reborn as the new National Hockey League, with the Bulldogs as one of the charter members, only with the stress of being the smallest city in the league and the troubled economic times of the World War I, Quebec chose to suspend operations for the inaugural NHL season of 1917-18.

Their situation did not improve in time for the 1918-19 season when the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic erupted, causing the Bulldogs to once again take a pass on the season.

New ownership allowed the club to return to on ice competition for the 1919-20 season. High scoring star Joe Malone was recalled from the Montreal Canadiens and proceeded to lead not only the team, but the league in scoring with 39 goals and 49 points in 24 games. That, however, would prove to be the only highlight of the season for the team, as their defense would prove to be nothing short of hideous, giving up a total of 177 goals in 24 games, an average of 7.4 goals per game. That total was so putrid, it was greater than the Ottawa Senators and Toronto St. Patrick's combined total of 170.

The Bulldogs finished 2-10 in the first half, and there would be no rebound in the second half as another 2-10 record awaited them. Prior to the start of the 1920-21 season, the NHL would take back the franchise and sold it to interests in Hamilton, Ontario.

The club would be christened the Hamilton Tigers and six Quebec players, including Malone, would carry over to the first Tigers roster that would play their first ever game on this date in 1920, a 5-0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens.

The 1920-21 Hamilton Tigers

The Tigers were led in scoring that night by future Hockey Hall of Famer Babe Dye, who scored the first goal in Tigers history at 12:30 of the first period to give Hamilton a 1-0 lead. Exactly five minutes later he would score his second of the period, both assisted by Joe Matte.

George Carey extended the Tigers lead to three at the four minute mark of the second, assisted by Moylan McDonnell, the only assist of the defenseman's 20 games that season. Matte made it three points on the night with his goal at the 16 minute mark of the period before Goldie Prodgers closed out the scoring at three minutes of the third period.

Howard Lockhart got the unlikely shutout in goal for Hamilton, considering that his only appearance for Quebec the previous season saw him let in no less than 11 goals! Lockhart would eventually play 59 NHL games over six seasons and record exactly one career shutout.

Howard Lockhart

The Tigers opening night shutout remains the one and only time a club has blanked an opponent during it's NHL debut and was arguably the high point in the history of the franchise. Of note, it would be the one and only game opening night star Dye would ever play in a Tigers sweater, as he was recalled from his loan by the Toronto St. Patricks due to an injury suffered by another member of the St. Patricks.

The Tigers would miss Dye dearly, as he would go on to lead the NHL in goal scoring that season with 35 total goals after netting 33 in 23 games following his recall by Toronto. In the absence of Dye, Malone would lead Hamilton with 28 goals and 37 points in 20 games after missing the first four games of the season due to a contract dispute.

Hamilton would go 2-2 before the return of Malone, but his arrival would do little to change the fortunes of the club, as they completed the first half of the season in last place at 3-7 and closed out the second half of the split season in last place with a record of 3-11.

Additional last place finishes followed the next three seasons thanks to records of 7-17, 6-18 and 9-15. Malone would lead the club in scoring again during 1921-22 and Mickey Roach took top honors in 1922-23 before Billy Burch did the same in 1923-24.

Then the unexpected happened, the lowly Tigers rose to the top of the standings with a 19-10-1 record as Burch again led the team with 20 goals and 24 points. Their scoreless tie with Ottawa during mid-December provided the difference over the second place St. Patricks who finished right behind Hamilton at 19-11-0.

The 1924-25 Hamilton Tigers

The excitement of their first place finish was quickly dashed in the most complete and utter way, as the entire roster of the Tigers went to their general manager on the train ride home following their final regular season game on March 9, 1925 and demanded the princely sum of $200 each for the six additional games the regular season had been extended that season due to the additions of two new clubs, the Boston Bruins and Montreal Maroons. Management responded with the argument that the player's contacts were based on playing from December 1st to March 30th, without regard to the number of games played.

The players held firm in their demands, refusing to participate in the postseason. The situation remained unresolved while the St. Patricks and Canadiens met in the semifinals. Once the Canadiens prevailed on March 13, league president Frank Calder met with Tigers management, who refused to change their position, and subsequently declared the Canadiens league champions, suspended the entire Tigers roster indefinitely and fined them $200 each, ending not only their season, but as it turns out the franchise itself!

Prior to the following NHL season, New York bootlegger Big Bill Dwyer purchased the Tigers roster for $75,000 to stock his expansion club, the New York Americans. It was a move the players did not mind, as they all received a pay increase, with some earning twice as much as before. The league officially revoked the Hamilton franchise on September 22, 1925, formally bringing to a close the story of not only the Hamilton Tigers, but NHL hockey in Hamilton, as the league has never returned.

Today's featured jersey is a 1920-21 Hamilton Tigers Joe Malone jersey. Their original jerseys feature vertical striping and the bold tiger head on a square patch. This style lasted but one season and was replaced by a new sweater which was adorned with a full-bodied walking tiger and horizontal striping.

The Hamilton Tigers jersey has taken on a legendary status since Sports Illustrated named the Hamilton Tigers jersey as one of "25 Lost Treasures of Sports", as no known surviving examples exist of any of the four different styles that were worn during their five seasons, despite reports that one was sold for $500 in the early 1990's in Hamilton to an unknown American collector and has never been seen since as reported in the documentary "Hunting the Last Hamilton Tiger" in 2009.

1920-21 Hamilton Tigers Mickey Roach Jersey

Reports vary as to the day and location of early NHLer Mickey Roach. Some sources list him as having been born on May 1, 1895 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Hockey Hall of Fame biography states he is "American-born" and NHL.com also favors Boston, while other sources say he was born on this date, May 7, 1895 in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, with the most convincing argument being his birth certificate from Nova Scotia! One source seems to have his story right, as it splits the difference, stating he was born in Glace Bay but moved to Boston at a young age.

Regardless of where he was born, it seems apparent he grew up in New England, as his earliest recorded hockey club was the Boston Pilgrims, with whom he played 8 games as a teen in 1913-14, scoring 4 goals.

For 1914-15 he joined the Boston Arenas of the American Amateur Hockey League where he totaled 14 goals in just 10 games to lead the league in scoring. He remained with the Arenas for 1915-16. While he was limited to just 6 games, he found the net 11 times, an average of nearly 2 goals per game. His next stop was with the New York Crescents, still in the AAHL, where he scored 5 goals in 6 games.

He remained in New York for the 1917-18 season, only now with the New York Wanderers of the USNHL where he scored another dozen goals in 10 games.

Roach moved across the border to his native Canada for the 1918-19 season when he joined the Hamilton Tigers of the Ontario Hockey Association where he had another fine offensive season, leading the league in scoring with 17 goals and 29 points in only 8 games thanks to his speed and agility. The Tigers had a successful regular season and eventually advanced the the Allan Cup playoffs for the Canadian amateur championship where they defeated Winnipeg Selkirk in the first game 6-1 and then held on after a 5-1 loss in Game 2 to win the series 7 goals to 6.

His fine season with Hamilton caught the attention of the Toronto St. Patricks of the National Hockey League, which was about to embark on only its third season of play. Playing a season twice as long as any he had before, Roach scored 11 goals and 13 points in 1919-20, which included Roach becoming only the fourth player in the NHL to score five goals in one game on March 6, 1920 as Toronto defeated the Quebec Bulldogs 11-2.

Not to diminish Roach's accomplishment, which also included an assist that night, but goaltender Howard Lockhart of the St. Patricks was loaned to Quebec for that game, allowing Roach's five goals and the St. Pats 11, which certainly must have caused the Bulldogs to question Lockhart's effort that evening!

To this date, 98 years later, only 44 men have joined the exclusive five goal club, and just two since 1997. With Roach having indeed born in Canada, Mark Pavelich in 1983 remains the only American to accomplish the feat.

Roach began the 1920-21 season with the St. Pats, but after 9 games, he was sold to the first year Hamilton Tigers of the NHL, a different Hamilton Tigers than who Roach had won the Allan Cup with in 1919. After having scored just 2 points with the St. Pats, Roach racked up 17 points in 14 games with Hamilton.

The inaugural 1920-21 Hamilton Tigers

In 1921-22, Roach, a center, scored 14 goals and 17 points prior to setting career highs in 1922-23 with 17 goals and 25 points to lead Hamilton in scoring and finish 6th overall in the NHL.

Roach in the 1921-23 "Walking Tiger" style he wore during his finest season

After never making the playoffs previously and a disappointing 1923-24 season, in which he only managed 5 goals and 8 points in 21 games while Hamilton finished dead last, the Tigers had a great regular season in 1924-25, finishing first overall in the NHL with a 19-10-1 record to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in Roach's career.

However…

The NHL had increased the season schedule from 24 games to 30 that season to accommodate two new clubs, and, on the train ride home following the final game of the season, the players demanded an extra $200 each for the extra six games they were required to play without any increase in pay. The Tigers management informed the players that their contracts ran from December 1, 1924 to March 30, 1925 regardless of the number of games played and no additional pay would be forthcoming.

The 1924-25 Hamilton Tigers team

While the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto St. Patricks were facing off in the semifinals for a chance to face Hamilton for the O'Brien Trophy and a chance to play for the Stanley Cup as NHL champions the players stated they would rather retire than be taken advantage of.

A newspaper headline about the 1925 Hamilton players' strike

The NHL took a hard line stance and warned the players they would be suspended if they did not play. After Montreal defeated Toronto, NHL President Frank Calder met with the Tigers management, declared the Canadiens champions of the NHL and fined the Tigers players $200 each!

During the offseason, "Big Bill" Dwyer bought the rights to the Hamilton players for his expansion club set to begin play in New York's Madison Square Garden for the 1925-26 season, the New York Americans. The players were more than happy with the new arrangement, as they all received raises from Dwyer, some as much as 200%!

The Hamilton franchise was then revoked at the September 22nd league meetings, bringing an end to the Tigers franchise.

The inaugural New York Americans of 1925-26

Roach managed a mere 3 goals in 25 of the Americans 36 games, but rebounded in 1926-27 with 11 goals in 44 games, second on the Americans in goals for the season, which proved to be his last in the NHL. Thanks to the Hamilton player's strike in 1925, Roach never played in a single NHL playoff game during his eight seasons in the league.

Roach in the star spangled sweater of the Americans

For the 1927-28 season, he joined the Niagara Falls Cataracts of the Canadian Professional Hockey League as a player-coach.

He would play one season with the Windsor Hornets of the CPHL before again spending a season as a player-coach, this time with the Buffalo Bisons in the same league, now renamed the International Hockey League, but with a much more limited amount of playing time, as he appeared in just 10 games. He retired for good as a player after the 1929-30 season to concentrate on coaching, a career that lasted three additional seasons.

In all, Roach played 211 NHL games with 77 goals and 34 assists for 111 points and no playoff games, thanks to the ill-fated Hamilton players' strike of 1925, costing Roach his only shot at winning the Stanley Cup.

Today's featured jersey is a 1920-21 Hamilton Tigers Mickey Roach jersey. The Tigers began play in the 1920-21 season while wearing these vertically striped jerseys with the tiger head logo. They were only worn for one season before being replaced by the "walking tiger" horizontally striped jerseys for the next two seasons. Their final two seasons were with jerseys with a capital H logo in a wide gold band and multiple striped sleeves.

As declared by Sports Illustrated in 2005 as one of "25 Lost Treasures of Sports", a game worn Hamilton Tigers jersey is a Holy Grail of hockey jerseys, as no known examples are currently known to exist, although legend has it one was sold for $500 in the 1990's in Hamilton to an unknown American collector and has never been seen since.

Today's first video is the history of the Tigers sweaters.

Next is a look at the New York Americans, of which Roach was a original member.

  

Hunting "Hunting the Last Hamilton Tiger"

Yes, you read that correctly, we are hunting "Hunting the Last Hamilton Tiger", a documentary about the search for a 1920-1925 Hamilton Tigers sweater from the early days of the National Hockey League.

Joe Malone of the Hamilton Tigers

The producers of the documentary set out to find a Tigers sweater reportedly sold in the early 1990's for $500 and now estimated, if it should ever surface again, at a value of $60,000 in 2009 when the documentary first aired in Canada on the Discovery Channel and the CBC.

The missing sweater has taken on mythical proportions, aided by Sports Illustrated listing it among the Top 25 Lost Sports Treasures.

The producers of the documentary travelled to New York (where the franchise relocated to, becoming the New York Americans), Toronto, Montreal and Hamilton in search of the missing Tigers sweater, but with no luck in finding it.

Now four years later we here at Third String Goalie find ourselves in a similar predicament - being located in the United States, we've been searching for not the sweater, but the program itself!

We've never been able to see it aired on TV in the United States, been aware of  DVD available for purchase nor seen it available to view or download online, either legally or not so legally…

Once again the show will be airing on the CBC Documentary Channel on September 27th at 7AM and again at 2 PM (Ottawa time) and we are now coming to you, our faithful readers, on our knees hoping, no, begging and pleading, that some kind tech-savvy Canadian will take pity on our souls and record and burn a DVD of the show for us. We'll happily cover the cost of your postage and other expenses in order that we can finally, finally get to see this program!

Seriously, if there's a BBC America, why isn't there a CBC America channel? We like Canada down here and you've given us any number of really swell things we enjoy - Shania Twain, Molson Beer, The Kids in the Hall and the Colorado Avalanche and to a lesser degree the Phoenix Coyotes, so why don't we get more of your TV? We thought "Corner Gas" was pretty funny and we'd like to see more, particularly when it involves lost hockey sweaters!

What do you say, Canada? Can anyone help us out please? Send an email to Spyboy1@gmail.com to get in touch if you can.

1920-21 Hamilton Tigers Joe Malone Jersey

After their peak in 1912 and 1913 when they were the holders of the Stanley Cup, the Quebec Bulldogs of the National Hockey Association ran into hard times. While posting winning records in 1914 and 1915, they failed to qualify for the playoffs both seasons. A losing record of 10-12 in 1916 foreshadowed the downfall that await the club. A dismal first half in 1916-17 saw the Bulldogs at 2-8, only to reverse their fortunes in the second half of the season at 8-2, yet fail to make the postseason once more.

The Quebec Bulldogs in brighter days with the Stanley Cup

After the conclusion of the 1916-17 schedule, the NHA disbanded, only to be reborn as the new National Hockey League, with the Bulldogs as one of the charter members, only with the stress of being the smallest city in the league and the troubled economic times of the World War I, Quebec chose to suspend operations for the inaugural NHL season of 1917-18.

Their situation did not improve in time for the 1918-19 season when the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic erupted, causing the Bulldogs to once again take a pass on the season.

New ownership allowed the club to return to on ice competition for the 1919-20 season. High scoring star player Joe Malone was recalled from the Montreal Canadiens and proceeded to lead not only the team, but the league in scoring with 39 goals and 49 points in 24 games. That, however, would prove to be the only highlight of the season for the team, as their defense would prove to be nothing short of hideous, giving up a total of 177 goals in 24 games, an average of 7.4 goals per game. That total was so putrid, it was greater than the Ottawa Senators and Toronto St. Patrick's combined total of 170.

The Bulldogs finished 2-10 in the first half, and there would be no rebound in the second half as another 2-10 record awaited them. Prior to the start of the 1920-21 season, the NHL would take back the franchise and sold it to interests in Hamilton, Ontario.

The club would be christened the Hamilton Tigers and six Quebec players, including Malone, would carry over to the Tigers first roster who would play their first ever game on this date in 1920, a 5-0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens.

The 1920-21 Hamilton Tigers

The Tigers were led in scoring that night by future Hockey Hall of Famer Babe Dye, who scored the first goal in Tigers history at 12:30 of the first period to give Hamilton a 1-0 lead. Exactly five minutes later he would score his second of the period, both assisted by Joe Matte.

George Carey extended the Tigers lead to three at the four minute mark of the second, assisted by Moylan McDonnell, the only assist of the defenseman's 20 games that season. Matte made it three points on the night with his goal at the 16 minute mark of the period before Goldie Prodgers closed out the scoring at three minutes of the third period.

Howard Lockhart got the unlikely shutout in goal for Hamilton, considering that his only appearance for Quebec the previous season saw him let in no less than 11 goals. Lockhart would eventually play 59 NHL games over six seasons and record exactly one career shutout.

Howard Lockhart

The Tigers opening night shutout remains the one and only time a club has blanked an opponent during it's NHL debut and was arguably the high point in the history of the franchise. Of note, it would be the one and only game opening night star Dye would ever play in a Tigers sweater, as he was recalled from his loan by the Toronto St. Patricks due to an injury suffered by another player on the St. Patricks roster.

The Tigers would miss Dye dearly, as he would go on to lead the NHL in goal scoring that season with 35 total goals in 24 games after netting 33 in 23 games following his recall by Toronto. In the absence of Dye, Malone would lead Hamilton with 28 goals and 37 points in 20 games after missing the first four games of the season due to a contract dispute.

Hamilton would go 2-2 before the return of Malone, but his arrival would do little to change the fortunes of the club, as they completed the first half of the season in last place at 3-7 and closed out the second half of the split season in last place with a record of 3-11.

Additional last place finishes followed the next three seasons thanks to records of 7-17, 6-18 and 9-15. Malone would lead the club in scoring again during 1921-22 and Mickey Roach took top honors in 1922-23 before Billy Burch did the same in 1923-24.

Then the unexpected happened, the lowly Tigers rose to the top of the standings with a 19-10-1 record as Burch again led the team with 20 goals and 24 points. Their scoreless tie with Ottawa during mid-December provided the difference over the second place St. Patricks who finished at 19-11-0.

The 1924-25 Hamilton Tigers

The excitement of their first place finish was quickly dashed in the most complete and utter way, as the entire roster of the Tigers went to their general manager on the train ride home following their final regular season game on March 9, 1925 and demanded the princely sum of $200 each for the six additional games the regular season had been extended that season due to the additions of new clubs, the Boston Bruins and Montreal Maroons. Management responded with the argument that the player's contacts were based on playing from December 1st to March 30th, without regard to the number of games played.

The players held firm in their demands and refused to participate in the postseason. The situation remained unresolved while the St. Patricks and Canadiens met in the semifinals. Once the Canadiens prevailed on March 13, league president Frank Calder met with Tigers management, who refused to change their position, and subsequently declared the Canadiens league champions, suspended the entire Tigers roster indefinitely and fined them $200 each, ending not only their season, but as it turns out the franchise itself.

Prior to the following NHL season, New York bootlegger Big Bill Dwyer purchased the Tigers roster for $75,000 to stock his expansion club, the New York Americans. It was a move the players did not mind, as they all received a pay increase, with some earning twice as much as before. The league officially revoked the Hamilton franchise on September 22, 1925, formally bringing to a close the story of not only the Hamilton Tigers, but NHL hockey in Hamilton, as the league has never returned.

Today's featured jersey is a 1920-21 Hamilton Tigers Joe Malone jersey. Their original jerseys feature vertical striping and the bold tiger head on a square patch. This style lasted but one season and was replaced by a new sweater which was adorned with a full-bodied walking tiger and horizontal striping.

The Hamilton Tigers jersey has taken on a legendary status since Sports Illustrated named the Hamilton Tigers jersey as one of "25 Lost Treasures of Sports", as no known surviving examples exist of any of the four different styles that were worn during their five seasons, despite reports that one was sold for $500 in the early 1990's in Hamilton to an unknown American collector and has never been seen since.

There was a documentary about a search for any Tigers sweater called "Hunting the Last Hamilton Tiger" in 2009, but frustratingly, we were unable to find any clips of it online, youtube or otherwise, despite it having been shown on the CBC. If anyone has any links to video of this documentary, please share them in the comments or email us at Spyboy1@gmail.com.