Jimmy Gardner (ice hockey)

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Jimmy Gardner
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1963
Gardner in 1912 with the New Westminster Royals.
Born (1881-05-21)May 21, 1881
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died November 6, 1940(1940-11-06) (aged 59)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Left wing
Shot Left
Played for Pittsburgh Professionals
Montreal Wanderers
Montreal Shamrocks
Calumet Miners
New Westminster Royals
Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 1899–1911

James Henry Gardner (May 21, 1881 – November 6, 1940) was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach. Gardner started his career as professionalism was just starting in ice hockey. He won championships with both amateur and professional teams. After his hockey career ended, Gardner coached professionally, most notably with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey Association (NHA). Gardner helped found the NHA, the predecessor of today's National Hockey League, and the Canadiens, including suggesting the team name.

Hockey career[edit]

Gardner in 1907 with the Pittsburgh Pros.

Gardner's playing career started with Montreal Hockey Club amateur men's team of the Canadian Amateur Hockey League in 1900, where he played until 1903, winning the Stanley Cup twice, in 1902 and 1903 as one of the 'Little Men of Iron'. In 1903, the players of the Montreal Hockey Club left to form the new Montreal Wanderers of the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL).

After one season with the Wanderers, Gardner then turned professional, playing two years for US teams the Calumet Miners and the Pittsburgh Professionals before returning to Canada and the Montreal Shamrocks. He would return to the Wanderers in 1908 and play for the club until 1911, winning the Cup in 1908 and 1910. He joined the new PCHA and played for New Westminster for two seasons, before returning to Montreal to play for the Montreal Canadiens for two seasons before retiring as a player.

Gardner then coached the Canadiens for two seasons and in later years coached the Hamilton Tigers, Providence Reds, and teams in the Western Canada Hockey League and Quebec Hockey League.

Gardner is credited with helping to found the Montreal Canadiens in 1909, including its name. As an official of the Wanderers, he met with Ambrose O'Brien during the hockey meetings of December 1909, when the Wanderers and O'Brien's teams were left out of a new professional league. Gardner and O'Brien together worked on the idea of the new National Hockey Association, and the idea of a new francophone team for Montreal, to be named "Les Canadiens". The club would be a natural rival for the anglophone Wanderers. O'Brien, whose family controlled railway and mining business, underwrote both the new league and the Canadiens franchise. A month later, the rival league folded and O'Brien's teams absorbed some of the rival teams. O'Brien would sell the Canadiens one year later to George Kennedy, who owned Club Athletique Canadien.

Gardner died in Montreal on November 6, 1940, after a lengthy illness.[1]

He was inducted posthumously into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963.[2]

Career statistics[edit]

Player statistics[edit]

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1899–1900 Montreal AAA-2 CAIHL 4 8 0 8 1 1 0 1
1900–01 Montreal AAA-2 CAIHL 6 10 0 10
1900–01 Montreal AAA CAHL 1 0 0 0 0
1901–02 Montreal AAA-2 CAIHL 1 5 0 5 3
1901–02 Montreal AAA CAHL 8 1 0 1 16
1901–02 Montreal AAA St-Cup 3 0 0 0 12
1902–03 Montreal AAA CAHL 3 3 0 3 9
1902–03 Montreal AAA St-Cup 2 1 0 1 6
1903–04 Montreal Wanderers FAHL 6 5 0 5 12 1 1
1903–04 Montreal Wanderers St-Cup 1 1 0 1 0
1904–05 Calumet Miners IHL 23 16 0 16 33
1905–06 Calumet Miners IHL 19 3 0 3 30
1906–07 Pittsburgh Professionals IHL 20 10 8 18 61
1907–08 Montreal Shamrocks ECAHA 10 7 0 7 42
1908–09 Montreal Wanderers ECHA 12 11 0 11 61
1908–09 Montreal Wanderers St-Cup 2 0 0 0 13
1909–10 Montreal Wanderers NHA 12 10 0 10 58 1 3 0 3 9
1909–10 Montreal Wanderers St-Cup 1 0 0 0 6
1910–11 Montreal Wanderers NHA 16 5 0 5 35
1911–12 New Westminster Royals PCHA 15 8 0 8 49
1912–13 New Westminster Royals PCHA 13 3 4 7 21
1913–14 Montreal Canadiens NHA 15 10 9 19 12
1914–15 Montreal Canadiens NHA 2 0 0 0 0
CAHL totals 12 4 0 4 25
IHL totals 62 29 8 37 124
NHA totals 45 25 9 34 105 1 3 0 3 9
PCHA totals 28 11 4 15 70
St-Cup totals 9 2 0 2 37

Coaching record[edit]

Season Team League Regular season Playoffs
GP W L T Pts Result Result
1910–11 Montreal Wanderers NHA 16 7 9 0 14 4th
1912 New Westminster Royals PCHA 15 9 6 0 18 1st
1912–13 New Westminster Royals PCHA 13 4 9 0 8 3rd
1913–14 Montreal Canadiens NHA 20 13 7 0 26 2nd Lost in league playoffs against Toronto Blueshirts
1914–15 Montreal Canadiens NHA 20 6 14 0 12 6th
1924–25 Hamilton Tigers NHL 30 19 10 1 39 1st No playoffs because of Hamilton Tigers player strike
NHA totals 56 26 30 0 52
PCHA totals 28 13 15 0 26

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Jimmy Gardner, Former Ice Star, Dies After Long Illness at 59" The Gazette (Montreal). Nov. 7, 1940 (pg. 17).
  2. ^ Hockey Hall of Fame 2003, p. 56.
General
  • Hockey Hall of Fame (2003). Honoured Members: Hockey Hall of Fame. Bolton, Ontario: Fenn Publishing. ISBN 1-55168-239-7.

External links[edit]

Preceded by Head coach of the Montreal Canadiens
1913–1915
Succeeded by
Preceded by Montreal Canadiens captain
191315
Succeeded by
Preceded by Head coach of the Hamilton Tigers
1924–25
Succeeded by
New York Americans coaches
Tommy Gorman