With a light sports calendar this coming weekend, all eyes will all be on Columbus, Ohio for the 60th National Hockey League All-Star Game. It is the perfect to hold such an event on what is a relatively light sports calendar. January 24th and 25th represents the weekend between the NFL Conference Championships and Super Bowl. Basketball is in the middle of a season and Spring Training has yet to begin in baseball. It is the perfect time to have a captive audience.
As the League’s mid-season, marquee event approaches, it is interesting to look at how this special event began. Although the first official NHL All-Star Game as we know it today was held during the 1947-48 season, the origin of the game comes much earlier than in the middle of the 20th century. There have been several occasions when benefit games and other types of All-Star Games were played.
The All-Star Game’s origins come from a 1908 match held at the Montreal Arena between the Montreal Wanderers and a team of All-Stars from the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association. It was held in memory of Wanderer’s player Hod Stuart, who had drowned three months after his team won the 1907 Stanley Cup. $2,000 in proceeds generated at the game went to his family.
27 years later, a similar game was held. This time, it came due to an on-ice incident. On December 12, 1933, Toronto’s King Clancy tripped Boston’s Eddie Shore. In retaliation, Shore hit the Leafs’ Ace Bailey from behind, flipping him over backwards and causing Bailey to hit his head on the ice. Bailey came down so hard that a priest in attendance gave him last rites. Although Bailey lived for nearly 60 more years, his playing career was over. Shore was suspended for 16 games of a 48-game season for the hit.
As a benefit for Bailey and his family, the NHL held its first ever type of All-Star game on February 14, 1934. The game was held at Maple Leafs Gardens in Toronto where Bailey’s #6 was retired by the Leafs, the first ever retired by an NHL team. In this game, the Leafs battled a team of players comprised from the seven other teams and defeated them 7-3.
One of the more notable moments occurred before the game, when Bailey presented Shore with his All-Star jersey, showing he had clearly forgiven him for his actions. Bailey also presented a trophy to NHL President Frank Calder before the game, in the hope that the trophy would go to the winner of an annual All-Star Game for the benefit of injured players.
Four years later, another of these games was held. This time it was to honor Canadiens’ star Howie Morenz. The fiery player was playing against Chicago on January 28, 1937 at the Montreal Forum when he was checked by Chicago’s Earl Seibert into the boards, breaking his leg in five places above the ankle. Morenz was carried off the ice and into a hospital where he stayed for nearly five weeks before dying from a heart attack. It has long been mentioned Morenz did not die from his leg injury, but in that of a broken heart.
Before his death and while Morenz remained in the hospital, plans for a benefit game were already under way. The game saw a team of stars from the Canadiens and the Montreal Maroons lose to a team made of players from the other teams 6-5.
Finally, a similar game was held on August 25, 1939. Babe Siebert, a former player of the Montreal Canadiens, drowned in Lake Huron. The Canadiens and Montreal Maroons organized a benefit game against a group of NHL All-Stars, held on October 29, 1939 at the Montreal Forum. 6,000 fans attended and watched the All-Star win 5-2, an event which generated $15,000 for Siebert’s family.
Today, the NHL arranges several weeks of events leading up to the big game which generate funds for dozens of local charities. More than 114 years since an effort was undertaken to help others, it is fitting the worthwhile purpose of such a game continues today.
The NHL Fantasy Draft to determine which All-Stars will battle on either Team Foligno or Team Toews, will be held on Friday, January 23rd at 8:00 PM Eastern time and televised on the NBC Sports Network.
On Saturday, January 24th at 7:00 PM Eastern time, the 2015 NHL All-Star Skills Competition takes place. The event will be televised on the NBC Sports Network
On Sunday, January 25th at 5:00 PM Eastern time, the 2015 NHL All-Star Game will be held. The game will be televised on the NBC Sports Network.
Follow my stories leading up to and during the 2015 NHL All-Star Game from Columbus, Ohio at StadiumJourney.com and ProHockeyNews.com and follow me on Twitter at DMMORRELL
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