Col. John Stevens Hammond (December 5, 1880 - December 9, 1939) was an original sponsor and the first president of the New York Rangers franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) in the United States.
Col. John Stevens Hammond (December 5, 1880 - December 9, 1939) was an original sponsor and the first president of the New York Rangers franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) in the United States.
Hammond was born in Crown Point, New York, on December 5, 1880, into a family of iron manufacturers. [1] His great-grandfather, Charles F. Hammond, mined and forged plates for the USS Monitor and shipped the first cargo of lumber around Cape Horn. His grandfather, Brig. Gen. John Hammond served in the Union Army and a member of the United States House of Representatives. When the Hammond family's iron works began to suffer as a result of competition from Lake Superior iron ore, the family moved to Chicago. [2]
Hammond attended the United States Military Academy, where he excelled in the standing broad jump, 20-yard dash, and football. [1] [3] He also set a school record in the 220 hurdles. [4] He graduated from West Point in 1905 and served as a military attache in Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina. While in Argentina, Hammond met Tex Rickard. Hammond left the Army to join Rickard in his cattle and oil ventures. However, Hammond rejoined the Army during World War I as an artillery instructor. [2]
After the war, Hammond worked as the South American representative for a New York brokerage firm. In 1922, Hammond rejoined Rickard, who was planning to build a new Madison Square Garden. Hammond used his Wall Street connections to help Rickard secure financing from his "600 millionaires". [2] [5] The arena was built at the cost of $4.75 million in 249 days and opened on December 15, 1925. [5]
Hammond became vice president of Madison Square Garden Corporation and was tasked with finding new events to fill empty dates at the arena. One event Hammond suggested was hockey. [2] Hammond and Rickard arranged with Thomas Duggan, who had purchased the rights for U.S.-based National Hockey League franchises, to place one in New York. Bootlegger Bill Dwyer purchased the franchise, which became the New York Americans. [6] Dwyer remained behind the scenes, with Hammond serving as the team's president, Duggan as chairman of the board, and Tommy Gorman as the general manager. [6] [7]
Hockey proved to be a big draw in New York and the Madison Square Garden Corporation wanted to establish a second team, this one controlled by the Corporation itself. [8] Hammond believed that the city was large enough to support two teams and hoped that a rivalry between the two would develop. On February 10, 1926, he resigned as president of the Americans to devote his time to organizing the new team, which became the New York Rangers. [9] Hammond signed Conn Smythe, head coach of the University of Toronto's hockey team, to serve as general manager. On October 27, 1926, before the Rangers had played a regular-season game, Hammond fired Smythe in favour of Lester Patrick. Smythe believed Hammond fired him because of his refusal to sign two-time NHL scoring champion Babe Dye, against Hammond's wishes. [10] In their second season, the Rangers won the Stanley Cup finals by defeating the Montreal Maroons three games to two. [11]
In 1928, Hammond succeeded John M. Chapman as assistant general manager of Madison Square Garden. [12] Rickard died on January 6, 1929, and the following day, Hammond was appointed by the board of directors to serve as acting general manager of the Garden. [13] On March 19, 1929, William F. Carey, a railroad builder and contractor, was chosen to succeed Rickard and Hammond returned to his role as vice president. [14]
On December 21, 1932, Hammond resigned as vice president of the Madison Square Garden Corporation and president of the New York Rangers, citing "disagreement with certain policies of the president [William F. Carey]". He was succeeded in both roles by Lester Patrick. [15]
On May 2, 1934, Hammond announced that he and his associates had purchased controlling interest of Madison Square Garden from Richard F. Hoyt for an estimated $546,000. He succeeded Hoyt as chairman of the board and returned to his former position as Rangers' president. John Kilpatrick, who had succeeded Carey as president, stayed on in that role. [16] By August 1935, however Hammond and Kilpatrick were fighting for control of the corporation. [17] On September 27, 1935, stockholders voted 143,921 shares to 129,387 in favor of directors backing Kilpatrick. [18] On October 2, Stanton Griffis was elected to succeed Hammond as chairman. [19] On March 4, 1936, Griffis announced that Hammond and his associates had sold their shares to Hemphill, Noyes & Co. [20]
In 1907, Hammond married Hester Reilly. They had two children - Orson Smith Hammond and John Hammond Jr. She died in 1927. Two years later, Hammond married Louise Schulze Pomeroy. [2]
Hammond's four brothers, Thomas S. Hammond, Harry S. Hammond, Robert Hammond, and C. Herrick Hammond, were all noted amateur athletes. [2] [21]
Hammond died on December 9, 1939, at his residence at 270 Park Avenue. He was 59 years old. [2]
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden, an arena they share with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They are one of three NHL teams located in the New York metropolitan area; the others being the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders.
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylvania Station. It is the fourth venue to bear the name "Madison Square Garden"; the first two were located on Madison Square, on East 26th Street and Madison Avenue, with the third Madison Square Garden (1925) farther uptown at Eighth Avenue and 50th Street.
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Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe, MC was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1927 to 1961 and as the builder of Maple Leaf Gardens. As owner of the Leafs during numerous championship years, his name appears on the Stanley Cup eight times: 1932, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1962.
George Lewis "Tex" Rickard was an American boxing promoter, founder of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and builder of the third incarnation of Madison Square Garden in New York City. During the 1920s, Tex Rickard was the leading promoter of the day, and he has been compared to P. T. Barnum and Don King. Sports journalist Frank Deford has written that Rickard "first recognized the potential of the star system." Rickard also operated several saloons, hotels, and casinos, all named Northern and located in Alaska, Nevada, and Canada.
François Xavier Boucher was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and executive. Boucher played the forward position for the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Vancouver Maroons in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) between 1921 and 1938, and again from 1943 to 1944. Boucher later became coach and the general manager of the New York Rangers between 1939 and 1955. He won the Stanley Cup three times, all with the Rangers: in 1928 and 1933 as a player, and in 1940 as the coach. Boucher was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958. Three of his brothers also played in the NHL, including Georges, who was also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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Conn Stafford Smythe was the son of Conn Smythe and president of Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. and the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team from 1961–1969 and from 1970 until his death.
The history of the New York Rangers hockey team began in 1926 when the National Hockey League (NHL) granted a franchise to Tex Rickard, the founder of the team. The New York Rangers experienced early success, winning the Stanley Cup in only their second season of existence, and would go on to win two more in the next 12 years.
John Reed Kilpatrick was an American athlete, soldier, and sports businessperson. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame.
The 1928 Stanley Cup Finals was a best-of-five series played entirely in Montreal between the New York Rangers and the Montreal Maroons. It was the first appearance by the Rangers in the Finals in only their second season. The Maroons made their second Finals appearance after winning the Stanley Cup in 1926. The Rangers won the series three games to two to earn their first championship in franchise history; this was also the second Stanley Cup victory by an American-based team, and the first since the Seattle Metropolitans in 1917. This was also the first of only two times that a Montreal-based team lost the clinching game of the Stanley Cup Finals at home in the Montreal Forum, the other occurred in 1989 when the Calgary Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens. This was the last Stanley Cup Finals to be played in one location until the pandemic shortened season of 2020.
The 1932 Stanley Cup Finals was a best-of-five series between the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto would win the series in three straight to win their first Stanley Cup as the Maple Leafs.
The 1933 Stanley Cup Finals was played between the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, in a rematch of the 1932 Finals. The Rangers won the series 3–1 to win their second Stanley Cup.
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. is an American sports holding company based in New York City.
The 1940 Stanley Cup Finals was a best-of-seven series between the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. New York would win the series 4–2 to win their third Stanley Cup. The Rangers would not win another for 54 years, a circumstance termed the curse of 1940.
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The 1926–27 New York Rangers season was the franchise's first season. The team placed first in the new American Division and qualified for the playoffs, losing to the Boston Bruins. They were the last expansion team to win their division until the 1967–68 Philadelphia Flyers and the last to do so without guarantee to win it until the 2017–18 Vegas Golden Knights. In the playoffs that year, they lost to second place Boston Bruins in the Semifinals.
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the third bearing that name. Built in 1925 and closed in 1968, it was located on the west side of Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th streets in Manhattan, on the site of the city's trolley-car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near Madison Square. MSG III was the home of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League and the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association, and also hosted numerous boxing matches, the Millrose Games, concerts, and other events. In 1968 it was demolished and its role and name passed to the current Madison Square Garden, which stands at the site of the original Penn Station. One Worldwide Plaza was built on the arena's former 50th Street location.
Stanton Griffis was an American businessman and diplomat.