Niagara Falls Cataracts

Last updated
Niagara Falls Cataracts
City Niagara Falls, Ontario
League Canadian Professional Hockey League (1926–1929)
International Hockey League (1929–1930)
Founded1926
Folded1930

The Niagara Falls Cataracts were a Canadian minor professional ice hockey team located in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The franchise played for four seasons with the first three coming in the Canadian Professional Hockey League. In 1929, the league was reformed as the International Hockey League. [1]

Contents

History

Niagara was one of the founding members of the CPHL in 1926 which consisted entirely of Canadian teams from southern Ontario. The team was rather unsuccessful, finishing last in the league in two out of three seasons. Despite their struggles, the Cataracts joined the rest of the league members in 1929 by dissolving the CPHL and reforming in the International Hockey League. Niagara once again finished last in the standings and decided to call it quits after the season. [2]

During their final season, tragedy befell a member of the team when Edward Baker was fatally injured during a game. On January 9, against the Buffalo Bisons, Baker collided with his teammate, Lloyd Gross and suffered a skull fracture as a result. Baker remained conscious and skated off of the ice under his own power. He was later taken to a local hospital where he died the following morning at the age of 26. His death was ruled to have been accidental and no inquest was held. [3]

Former NHL star and Hockey Hall of Famer Newsy Lalonde coached Niagara Falls during the 1928–29 season.

Season-by-season record

SeasonGPWLTPtsGFGAPlacePlayoffs
1926–27 32121912578815thmissed
1927–28 421317123689996thmissed
1928–29 421228226701288thmissed
1929–30 42728721721338thmissed
Totals158449222309441

Related Research Articles

The Canadian Professional Hockey League, also known as Can-Pro, was a minor professional hockey league founded in 1926. After three seasons, it became the International Hockey League (IHL) in 1929. The Can-Pro name was then given to a new league of IHL farm teams which operated in the 1929–30 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percy LeSueur</span> Canadian ice hockey player

Percivale St-Helier LeSueur, known as "Peerless Percy", was a Canadian senior and professional ice hockey goaltender and later involved in the game as referee, coach, manager and owner. He was a member of the Smiths Falls Seniors for three years, with whom his performance in a 1906 Stanley Cup challenge series attracted the attention of his opponents, the Ottawa Silver Seven. Although his team lost the series, LeSueur excelled in goal, keeping the games close. Nine days after the defeat, he joined the Silver Seven and played in a challenge match against the Montreal Wanderers. He remained with Ottawa through the 1913–14 season where he served as team captain for three seasons, and assumed coaching duties in his final season with the team.

The California Hockey League was a professional ice hockey league that existed from 1925 until 1933.

In 1970, the Junior A level was divided into two more levels, Tier I and Tier II. In 1974, the "Major Junior A" division of the OHA became the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL) and began to operate independently of the OHA. Finally in 1980, the OMJHL became the Ontario Hockey League.

Walter Morris "Jeff, Jake" Kalbfleisch was a Canadian ice hockey player. Kalbfleisch played 36 games over four seasons in the National Hockey League for the Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Eagles, New York Americans and Boston Bruins from 1933 to 1937. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1933 to 1943, was spent in various minor leagues

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Kaminsky (ice hockey)</span> Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Max Kaminsky was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He played four seasons in the National Hockey League, followed by nine seasons in the American Hockey League where he won two Calder Cup championships. He later coached the Pittsburgh Hornets and Philadelphia Rockets, then led the St. Catharines Teepees to the 1960 Memorial Cup championship. The Max Kaminsky Trophy was established by the Ontario Hockey Association in his honour in 1961, and he was posthumously inducted into the Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rennison Manners</span> Canadian ice hockey player

Rennison Flint "Ren" Manners was a Canadian ice hockey centre who played 37 games over two seasons in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Quakers between 1929 and 1931. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1926 to 1934, was mainly spent playing amateur hockey.

Christopher Francis "Duke" Speyer was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 14 games in the National Hockey League. He played 5 games for the Toronto St. Pats in 1924, and 9 games for the New York Americans in 1934. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1923 to 1936, was mainly spent in the Canadian–American Hockey League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo Bisons (IHL)</span> Former professional ice hockey team in Buffalo, New York from 1928 to 1936

The Buffalo Bisons were a professional ice hockey team representing Buffalo, New York, although they played home games in nearby Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, at the 5,000-seat Peace Bridge Arena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Oatman</span> Canadian ice hockey player

Warren Russell Oatman was a Canadian ice hockey player. Oatman played 121 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Cougars, Montreal Maroons and New York Rangers between 1926 and 1929. His brother Eddie Oatman also played professional ice hockey. He is chiefly remembered as the player who scored at 8:20 of overtime in game two of the 1928 Stanley Cup semi-final against the Montreal Canadiens that put the Montreal Maroons into the Stanley Cup finals against the New York Rangers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Stratton</span> Canadian ice hockey player

Arthur Stratton is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 95 games in the National Hockey League for 5 separate teams. These included the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Philadelphia Flyers. Stratton's NHL career was scattered across 4 playing seasons between 1959 and 1968, where he scored 18 goals and 33 assists.

Patrice Arthur "Nosey" Gauthier was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre. He played 13 games in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1926–27 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1923 to 1936, was spent in the minor leagues. He is buried in Montreal's Mount Royal Cemetery.

Charles Kitchener Shannon was a professional ice hockey player who played 4 games in the National Hockey League for the New York Americans during the 1939–40 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1933 to 1948, was spent in various minor leagues.

The 1926–27 Toronto St. Patricks season was the tenth season and the last under the St. Patricks banner for the Toronto National Hockey League (NHL) franchise. In February 1927, Conn Smythe and investors purchased the St. Patricks and changed the name to the Toronto Maple Leafs. On the ice, the team finished in fifth place, out of the playoffs.

John Leonard Douglas Haig Dyte was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played 27 games in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks during the 1943–44 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1938 to 1949, was spent in the minor leagues

The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilton, Ontario. They competed in the Canadian Professional Hockey League (CPHL) from 1926 to 1929 then in the International Hockey League (IHL) from 1929 to 1930.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teddy Oke</span> Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and team owner

Frederick Gilmore "Teddy" Oke was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, referee, team owner, sponsor, miner, and highly successful stock broker who started F.G. Oke and Company in 1922. Oke played for the Toronto Tecumsehs and Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Halifax Crescents of the Maritime Professional Hockey League (MPHL). He was the owner of the minor-league Kitchener Flying Dutchmen of the Canadian Professional Hockey League.

Joseph Kelly Ironstone was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Ironstone was a goaltender who played professionally from 1921 until 1936. He played two games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Americans and Toronto Maple Leafs, but played mostly in the minor professional leagues. Ironstone was the second Jew to play in the NHL.

Rick Morocco is a Canadian-Italian ice hockey executive, and former professional player. A native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, he played junior ice hockey in Ontario, before winning a national university championship with the York Lions. During six seasons of professional hockey in Italy, he also played for the Italy men's national team at the World Championships and Winter Olympics. After his playing career, he served as an executive for Ontario University Athletics, the Professional Hockey Players' Association, the Canadian Junior Hockey League, and the Ontario Junior Hockey League. He was inducted into the Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame in 2005.

The Toronto Millionaires were a Canadian minor professional ice hockey team located in Toronto, Ontario. The franchise was around for three seasons, beginning in the Canadian Professional Hockey League and ending with the International Hockey League.

References

  1. Ross, J. Andrew (2015). Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. ISBN   978-0-8156-3383-9.
  2. "Hockey". Windsor Star. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  3. "Falls Hockey Star Fatally Injured". Montreal Gazette. January 11, 1930. Retrieved May 8, 2024.