January 2, 1908: A benefit game is played for the family of the late Hod Stuart. It is generally considered to be hockey's first all-star game.
William Hodgson Stuart was born on February 20, 1879 in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. He played football for the Ottawa Rough Riders, but hockey was his best sport. After playing for teams in Ontario, he and his younger brother, Bruce Stuart, helped to introduce professional hockey to America, playing for the Pittsburgh Bankers, winning a league title in 1903.
Noted for his clean play, he was unhappy with the violence in American games, and, at the end of 1906, signed with the best team in Canada at the time, the Montreal Wanderers, "the Little Men of Iron." The Montreal Star quoted him from Pittsburgh: "I can get more money here, but I am coming to the Wanderers." He did, and, as the Cup was then a challenge trophy, he won his 1st with the Wanderers on December 27, 1906. They subsequently lost it to the Kenora Thistles, but, in a new challenge, beat the Thistles to reclaim it on March 25, 1907, at the Winnipeg Auditorium.
That was to be Hod Stuart's last game. On June 23, 1907, he was swimming with friends near Belleville, Ontario when he swam to a nearby lighthouse ,and climbed onto a platform. He then dived head first into the water, hitting his head on rock, gashing his head and breaking his neck. He was killed instantly.
When the Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1945, Stuart was 1 of the 1st 9 players elected. His brother Stuart was elected in 1961.
Teammate Lester Patrick, who with his brother Frank (another pair of brothers in the Hall of Fame) would go on to grow the sport tremendously in Western Canada, and later became the 1st head coach and general manager of the NHL's New York Rangers, recalled:
I was walking uptown, crossing Dominion Square, when I met somebody. I’ve forgotten who he was, but he stopped me and said, "Did you hear the news?" I said, "What news?" He told me Hod Stuart was dead. I couldn’t believe it. Hod had been like an elder brother to me. We were more than friends. He had taught me a lot about hockey, and a lot about life. He had helped me to keep straight. I could hardly have been more deeply affected had a member of my own family been so suddenly taken. It broke me all up.
To raise money for Stuart’s widow and two children, the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) decided to hold an first All-Star game, a rarity for any sport at that point. It is sometimes credited as the first in any sport, ever, but this is not true: Baseball had one as far back as 1902, and had been holding benefit games (though not necessarily "all-star games") since at least 1873.
Nevertheless, the Westmount Arena, on the western edge of Montreal, agreed to host the game rent-free, so that all the gate receipts went to the Stuart family. On January 2, 1908, 3,800 fans attended. The Wanderers had future Hall-of-Famers Art Ross, Riley Hern, Ernie Russell and Ernie Johnson. (Ross was later the first head coach and general manager of the NHL's Boston Bruins, but, like Lester Patrick, good enough of a player to be elected as such despite his later, greater contributions in management)
Westmount Arena
They played a team whose players were selected by fans via mail, and included future Hall-of-Famers Percy LeSueur of the Ottawa Hockey Club (nicknamed the Silver Seven, and later renamed the Ottawa Senators), the aforementioned Frank Patrick of the Montreal Victorias, and Jack Marshall of the Montreal Shamrocks. Rod Kennedy of the Montreal Victorias was also on the All-Star team, and he and Marshall had both previously played for the Wanderers.
The Wanderers were used to playing together. According to the Montreal Gazette: "In the first half, it was all Wanderers. The Stars had not found their feet, suffering, just as might be expected, of a seven that had never played together before, from lack of familiarity with one another’s style of play."
The All-Stars battled back. According to the Ottawa Journal: "The second half seemed a little more exciting in the beginning. Patrick and Kennedy changed about in the position of point and cover-point and the All-Star men worked harder than in the first half." The All-Stars closed the gap, but the game ended 10-7 to the Wanderers. The Manitoba Morning Free Press wrote: "The game, although nominally a friendly one, bore all the marks of a cup contest, but was clean throughout, only two players being penalized."
The game raised $2,100 for the Stuart family. With inflation, that works out to about $53,000 in 2022 Canadian dollars. With the exchange rate, it's about $40,600 in American dollars.
Ten years later, to the day, January 2, 1918, a fire that began in, of all places, the ice-making plant caused the Westmount Arena to burn down. The National Hockey League was in its first season, and the Wanderers were members. Despite having won 4 Stanley Cups, they never played again.
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January 2, 1908 was a Thursday. No other sporting events were held in North America. Therefore, this was the only score on this historic day.
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