The Patricks vs. Eddie Shore (and Clarence Campbell)

The Patrick family had a curious relationship with Eddie Shore, who is regarded as one of the most pugnacious players in NHL history.

Lester Patrick was involved in at least one dust-up with the man called Old Blood and Guts, and years later Shore got into a hell of a brawl with Lester’s son Muzz, yet they came out of it as friends. Frank Patrick coached Shore with Boston from 1934-36, and had nice things to say about him, but in Frank’s role as NHL disciplinarian, he also suspended Shore for one of the most infamous incidents in hockey history. Lester, meanwhile, chose Shore to appear in an all-star game organized in response to the same incident.

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In The Patricks: Hockey’s Royal Family, Eric Whitehead writes on page 148 that Lester and Shore met on the ice for the first time after Lester came out of retirement at the end of 1925 to play for the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Cougars when the team was short of defencemen.

After a shaky start in his first game in Calgary, the old boy got his legs back and set up Frank Fredrickson for the winning goal. A week later against the powerful Edmonton lineup he had two assists in a 4-2 victory, plus a direct hit on Eddie Shore, the young hard-rock who was already being hailed as the toughest, meanest defenseman in hockey. Eddie … figured to no more than toy with the 42-year-old from Victoria, before, if necessary, dispatching him to the infirmary. But it didn't work out that way. Instead the old crock caught Shore with a crackling body check that sent the cocky youth, 18 years Lester's junior, off the ice on a stretcher.

I think I know Whitehead’s source: in the Victoria Daily Times of Nov. 19, 1949, Archie Wills wrote that Lester “got two assists in the Edmonton game and electrified the fans when he hit Eddie Shore so hard the boy had to be taken off.”

But did it really happen? Sort of, but it wasn’t as dramatic as presented by Whitehead and Wills.

The game took place in Victoria on New Year’s Day 1926, before a crowd of 3,500. Lester had turned 42 the previous day. Lester did have two assists, on the second and third goals of the game, including one that Fredrickson scored, but Victoria beat Edmonton 4-0, not 4-2. While the game got off to a listless start, according to the Victoria Daily Times, “it was Lester Patrick who threw the throttle wide open” in the second period.

[Victoria winger Harold] Halderson felt his injured leg giving away on him and he signalled to Lester to take a fall out of the Eskimos. Lester did that little thing to perfection for he got the whizz-bang called Bud Shore near the fence and tipped him for two somersaults and a nose dive.

Lester got a minor penalty for it, but the Times said nothing about Shore being taken from the ice on a stretcher.

For Lester, the game was great fun: “He was laughing on the ice as he hurled over sticks or beat some youngster. Lester is a marvel. There are few men at 40 [sic] years of age who can go out and play a game like him. It’s another tribute to careful living.”

The rival Daily Colonist said Lester was “cheered for his able work on both the defensive and offensive,” but didn’t find his hit on Shore even worth mentioning.

One surprising thing the game story and summary reveal: WHL referees were still fining players in addition to making them serve penalty time. Before Lester got into it with Shore, Mickey Ion assessed Victoria’s Duke Keats 10 minutes for unspecified “unruly conduct,” and ordered him to fork over $10.

In Eddie Shore and That Old-Time Hockey, C. Michael Hiam relates that when Shore returned to Victoria to open the Western Hockey League championship series on March 20, 1926, he had an injured leg that the Cougars targeted: 

When Shore emerged onto the ice two minutes after the game had started, the Cougars gave him a rough ride. Eddie’s condition was no secret, and Lester Patrick’s men made sure to aim for the damaged leg. The stitches began to pop out, and Shore’s canvas pants and woollen socks were soon soaked in blood, but he refused to come off the ice.

The Victoria Daily Times didn’t say anything about the Cougars going after Shore’s leg specifically, but noted that while he tested goaltender Hap Holmes several times, “the Victoria defence gave him the aerial route on many other trips in.”

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On Dec. 12, 1933, now playing for Boston, Shore delivered one of the most notorious hits in NHL history. Toronto’s King Clancy knocked Shore down and, in retaliation while still dazed, Shore hit Clancy’s teammate Ace Bailey from behind. Bailey’s head hit the ice and he was knocked unconscious. Red Horner in turn punched Shore, who also went down. Bailey went to hospital in critical condition with a skull fracture and it was feared he wouldn’t survive. Though he recovered, his NHL career was over.

Shore, who wasn’t badly hurt, was suspended for 16 games — a punishment doled out by Frank Patrick, who was the NHL’s managing director. (Frank later had mainly positive things about Shore. According to the Vancouver Province of Dec. 2, 1937, “Frank ranks Eddie Shore tops on defence, a crowd pleaser, and an inspiration to his teammates. But he lacks the goal-getting punch.” And in The Vancouver Sun of Feb. 22, 1958, he called Shore “The best I ever saw for taking care of himself and his equipment.”)

An all-star game in Toronto to benefit Bailey and his family was organized for Feb. 14, 1934, between the Maple Leafs and a team to be made up players from the rest of the league. One big question: would Shore be invited?

On one hand, it seemed bizarre to allow the man who caused the injury that resulted in the game being held to take part. On the other hand, as J.P. Fitzgerald wrote in the Toronto Telegram, “if Shore is a fit and proper person to play in the regular NHL games, and the league says he is, he should be quite as acceptable in this benefit game.”

Still, wouldn’t it at least be a bit awkward?

The decision was up to Lester Patrick, who would pick the all-star team and serve as its coach. When the line-up was announced, Shore was indeed included. Lester insisted it was “a gesture that will be appreciated by all hockey lovers.” Toronto Star sports editor Lou Marsh was skeptical and expected to “at least record the squelching of a few hotheads who would boo and hiss Eddie Shore.” 

Instead, something extraordinary happened that night before more than 14,000 people. During pre-game ceremonies, Ace Bailey came out and got a tremendous ovation. He began calling over each player to receive a windbreaker and a medal. Second in line was Eddie Shore. Marsh wrote: “The crowds leaned forward and there was a second’s dramatic silence. Bailey stuck out his hand and said ‘Hello Eddie.’ Shore cracked a thin hesitant smile and said ‘Hello Ace.’ And the crowd blew the roof off with the mightiest cheer of the evening.”

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Don’t get the idea that Eddie Shore conducted himself as a gentleman from then on.

On page 220 of his book about the Patricks, Eric Whitehead described a “late-season game” between New York and Boston. Midway through the third, Phil Watson was in “a violent collision mid-ice with Eddie Shore” and upon getting to his feet, let loose a profane tirade. A few minutes later, Watson skated past Shore, who struck him in the head with his stick. Watson was knocked unconscious, and taken from the ice with a bleeding head wound. A brawl erupted, and at the end, Watson was issued a major penalty for “antagonizing” Shore.

According to Whitehead,

[New York coach] Lester Patrick was in a rare rage over what he felt was a gross inequity in the penalty assessments. He filed an official protest with NHL president Calder, and when Calder reviewed the case he found the referee in error and sent him back to work in the Western Canada League, where the poor fellow had learned his craft. The chastened official returned to the big leagues the following season, and six seasons after that he was appointed to the league’s top executive post. Clarence Campbell, the young referee who had run afoul of Lester Patrick, not only survived that experience but also profited by it as he went on to serve a distinguished 32-year term as the league president.

This game in question happened on Dec. 28, 1937, in Boston, so it was late in the year, but not late in the season. Clarence Campbell was indeed the referee. According to a dispatch in the Edmonton Bulletin, Watson and Shore “jostled each other, waving their sticks high … before they came to blows … Campbell warned them to stop. Watson, however, disregarded the official and aimed a slash at Shore’s neck. [Shore] ducked the swing and then retaliated by clouting Watson with such force that he dropped to the ice and remained there for five minutes.”

Watson did receive a major penalty for provoking Shore, and Lester Patrick did apparently lay into Campbell over the decision, but Shore received a major penalty as well.

“I have never seen my squad so burned up,” Lester said when the teams met for a rematch a few nights later, adding that he warned his players not to seek revenge. Did he take his complaint up with Frank Calder? I couldn’t find anything to confirm this, but Campbell continued to referee in the NHL, so either way, Lester’s rage did not result in his demotion.

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I think Whitehead was getting mixed up with another controversial call that supposedly resulted in Campbell’s demise as a referee. But that story is also hard to pin down.

According to a post that used to be on the Hockey Hall of Fame’s website, Campbell was working a game in 1939 when Toronto’s Red Horner was cut with a high stick. Campbell called only a minor penalty, which infuriated Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe (whose default setting was infuriation). Smythe reportedly lobbied Calder and the NHL board not to renew Campbell’s contract, thus ending his major league refereeing career.

“We never allowed Campbell to referee again,” Smythe wrote in his autobiography, If You Can’t Beat’ Em in The Alley. “Owners could do that. Why not? It was our game, our meal ticket. A bad referee could do a lot of damage.”

Clarence Campbell, circa 1946-47.

Smythe placed the incident during the 1938 Stanley Cup final between Toronto and Chicago, but no other version of this story mentions who the Leafs were playing or who clipped Horner. In fact, it could not have been 1938, because Campbell’s last NHL game wasn’t until March 28, 1939, the opener of a playoff series between Toronto and Detroit, in which Red Horner played. 

Might this have been the match in question? Prior to the opening face-off, Calder reportedly told his officials “to call any and every offence.” Unfortunately, the NHL didn’t record the nature of each infraction at the time, so we don’t know if there were any high-sticking calls. There were nine minor penalties throughout the game, including one to Horner, but I haven’t found any game accounts that mention him being cut. Nor could I find anything in the newspapers about Smythe lobbying to oust Campbell. Regardless of whether Smythe was chiefly responsible, it was clear Campbell had fallen out of favour with the league.

Exhibit No. 1: Andy Lytle writing in The Toronto Star, April 8, 1939, about the upcoming second game in the Stanley Cup final series between Toronto and Boston: “Ag Smith or Norman Laport will referee Sunday’s game … Campbell is not included in the challenge round setup. In all probability we have seen the last of the only Rhodes scholar ever to blow an NHL whistle. In an IQ test Campbell may rate tops, but the type of refereeing intelligence desired by the NHL he apparently does not possess.”

Exhibit No. 2: In the Edmonton Journal of Nov. 7, 1939, Ken McConnell explained Campbell had rubbed too many people the wrong way, although neither Smythe nor Lester Patrick were named: “Last year the NHL had a rule — no longer in the book — which permitted an irritated manager to call a referee to the players’ bench and demand an explanation of any decision in full. It irked both sides and apparently Campbell irked some of the boys no end, including Jack Adams of Detroit, Paul Thompson of Chicago and Red Dutton of New York Americans.”

Exhibit No. 3: The Moncton Transcript, March 2, 1940: “Time was when Clarence Campbell, the Edmonton attorney was rated the kingpin of Frank Calder’s arbiters — and slated, by some to succeed Calder as president of the league. Then Campbell fell into disrepute. They said all over the circuit he simply could not referee a game properly.”

Some sources say Campbell continued to work in the league’s head office after they took his whistle away, but if so, it must have been very brief. In May 1939, he returned to Edmonton to resume his legal career. He revealed he was in talks to referee in the International-American league, but instead ended up staying home and becoming head referee of the Alberta Senior Hockey League. A year later, in November 1940, Campbell joined the American Hockey League as referee-in-chief. At that time, Jack Kelly of the Edmonton Bulletin explained Campbell had been fired by the NHL for being too impartial!

His first job … terminated after a couple winters when Clarence decided that he wouldn’t stop to figure out what city he was in before making a call on a play … Clarence didn’t make that statement to me, but it came from half a dozen other sources who knew exactly what the count was … The NHL doesn’t want a referee who will call them strictly according to the rules. The club owners want a hired hand who will always bear in mind the way the owner of the home team wants the play called …

So Campbell’s banishment from the league was probably the culmination of many incidents, not just one or two that annoyed Smythe or Lester Patrick, although those certainly would not have helped.

In 1941, Campbell enlisted in the Canadian army. Stationed in Victoria, he had the opportunity to officiate Pacific Coast league games. He was ultimately promoted to lieutenant colonel and later prosecuted war criminals.

As noted, Campbell had once been Frank Calder’s heir apparent as NHL president. After Calder’s death in 1943, Red Dutton served as interim president for more than two years despite calls for Lester Patrick to take over the job. Dutton eventually agreed to the permanent post, but quit in 1946, and Campbell was named to replace him — which seems odd, given that Campbell had been ousted from the league only a few years earlier. Smythe, however, nominated Campbell “because he would do what he was told.” Fealty to team owners was the key qualification. They expected Campbell to do a better job of carrying out their wishes at the board table than he had on the ice.

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It so happened that on the same night that Campbell made his swan song as an NHL referee, March 28, 1939, Muzz Patrick and Eddie Shore got into a fight for the ages in a different game. New York and Boston were playing, with the Bruins hoping to complete a sweep of their playoff series.

Muzz, a former heavyweight boxing champion, punched Shore “with a good right hand that broke the Boston veteran’s nose for about the tenth time.”

St. Louis Post Dispatch, March 29, 1939

Stephen Smith has written an extensive account of what happened on his Puckstruck blog. I can only add a couple of things: in a 1989 story in the New York Daily News, Muzz claimed he and Shore became unlikely friends after Shore’s battered mug made the cover of Time magazine: “He would introduce me as the guy who got him on the cover of Time.” (Only problem: Shore was never on the cover of Time. Maybe it was an inside page, or the cover of some other magazine.)

Phil Watson was also interviewed for the 1989 story, but conflated the Patrick-Shore brawl as occurring in the same game where Clarence Campbell penalized him for provoking Shore (which we have seen actually happened on Dec. 28, 1937). In Watson’s memory, Muzz was retaliating on his behalf for Shore’s cross-check that knocked him out. When Watson woke up in the locker room, he said Lester Patrick had a plan to get back at Campbell for his officiating.

Lester got this towel and wrapped the damn thing on my head, and then got ketchup or some other red stuff and put it all over the place. He said ‘C’mon and sit next to me on the bench.’ The stuff was dripping on me. The crowd was booing us and Lester gets on top of the bench and points at Campbell and yells ‘Look at what he did to Watson!’ We never laughed so much. It was one of the best times I ever had.

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Irony of ironies: when the Lester Patrick Trophy was established in 1965 to honour service to hockey in the United States, among those chosen to help decide the inaugural winner were Clarence Campbell and Eddie Shore. Campbell was still league president at the time. Shore was by then owner of the Springfield Indians of the AHL.

What’s more, in 1970, Shore was named a recipient of the award himself. Campbell was similarly honored in 1972.