A Great Game Quotes

“It was not uncommon for a quality performer to suit up with multiple teams in the same year, or to be employed in two different leagues at the same time. The phenomenon was reaching its logical extreme in Edmonton, where local management began buying star players from across the country as part of its plan to assemble a Cup contender. Another downside of unregulated competition was the inability of pro leagues to enforce on-ice discipline. It should be noted that, contrary to what the amateur organizers claimed, violence in hockey was by no means a professional phenomenon. The papers of the day are full of on-ice assaults, all-out brawls and spectator bedlam in the unpaid ranks. However, when amateur leagues dealt with these, they could enforce their rulings throughout the amateur world.”
― Stephen J. Harper, A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & the Rise of Professional Hockey

“The early participants also wore very modest equipment, making them look much lighter than today’s gladiators. Goalies relied on mere cricket pads to cover their shins. The protective gear of the others would be little more than thick padding to cover the more vulnerable parts of the body. Yet neither the players’ heads nor the goalkeepers’ faces were apparently considered vulnerable.”
― Stephen J. Harper, A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & the Rise of Professional Hockey

“The executive refused to accept the Nelson resignation. Yet Cox was unrepentant, stressing the concept of rehabilitation: “We are dealing with boys playing games, and not with criminals.”13 Besides, he warned, accumulating exiles would only lead to a whole network of potentially professional players and teams in the province.”
― Stephen J. Harper, A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & the Rise of Professional Hockey

“Indeed, professionalism in athletics was believed to be the source of all vice.”
― Stephen J. Harper, A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & the Rise of Professional Hockey

“Montreal was the location of ice hockey’s first formal game (1875), its first published rules (1877), its first official club (1877), its first major tournament (1883), its first intercity league (1886) and its first national champion (1893).11 That occurred when the reigning governor general, Lord Frederick Stanley of Preston, presented his famous Cup, and a five-team league—three of which were from Montreal—settled on its winner.12 For much of this time, hockey as an organized sport had been marginal and largely unknown in Toronto.”
― Stephen J. Harper, A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & the Rise of Professional Hockey

“We have met the enemy and he is us. —POGO (COMIC-STRIP CHARACTER CREATED BY WALT KELLY”
― Stephen J. Harper, A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & the Rise of Professional Hockey