The name Eddie Gerard doesn’t mean much these days to hockey fans. He has long been eclipsed by the likes of Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby.
But there was a time when he was one of the best players in hockey.
The life of Eddie Gerard began on Feb. 22, 1890 in Ottawa. He was one of seven children, and given the middle name of George in honour of George Washington, who was also born on Feb. 22.
As a child, growing up in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood of Ottawa, he played with the Boucher brothers, all of whom went to the NHL.
Gerard began his hockey career playing for the Ottawa New Edinburghs, who were based out of his neighbourhood. As early as 1906, he was already being touted as one of the most promising young hockey players in the capital.
In 1908, he joined the Ottawa Victorias for their Stanley Cup challenge against the Montreal Wanderers but they were unsuccessful in capturing the Cup. At the time, his position changed. The Ottawa Journal wrote,
“The Ottawas tried out Eddie Gerard of the Seconds, at centre last night, during part of the practice at the Arena and he showed up well. Gerard has been playing rover and is doing nice work.”
From 1907 to 1910 with the Ottawa team, he recorded 36 goals in 21 games. He quickly earned praise from the press for his play.
In 1910, his profile was large enough that the Ottawa Senators approached him about playing in the NHA on their team.
According to the story, Frank Shaughnessy came to Gerard, put $1,000 in $100 bills on the desk and asked him to play for the Senators.
Gerard enjoyed being an amateur player and said no.
And for the next three years teams in the NHA continually asked him to join their ranks and each time he said no. During this time, with the Ottawa Edinburghs from 1910 to 1913, he had 38 goals in 28 games.
In November 1913, after he was offered $1,000 by the Montreal Canadiens, but he turned that down.
The Ottawa Senators then offered him $1,500 for two seasons, which would make him one of the highest paid players in the league. The Sydney Hockey Club offered him $1,600 and an extra $1,000 in advertisements.
The Ottawa Citizen wrote of the bidding war for Gerard,
“If Gerard ever turns professional it will be to play with the Ottawa Hockey Club. Eddie has a good position in the city, which is worth more to him than any money that the professional clubs could give him.”
Realizing it was time to turn professional, he wanted to remain in his hometown and he realized he had to take an offer, and Ottawa’s was the best one. He had only one condition, that he be allowed to keep his government job. Ottawa agreed, and promptly gave him $400 in a signing bonus.
On Jan. 27, 1914, Gerard finally signed a contract to go professional with Ottawa, earning $1,500 in one of the largest hockey contracts of that era. The Ottawa Journal wrote,
“He had a long conference with the Ottawa club men, finally agreeing to take the plunge providing things could be arranged with the chief of his department in the Civil Service.”
One day later, Gerard made his debut with the Ottawa Senators in a game against the Quebec Bulldogs. Prior to the game, he received a floral horseshoe from his previous club, New Edinburgh. It didn’t take long for Gerard to impress others at the professional level. In his first game, played against Quebec City, he scored the winning goal for Ottawa on a brilliant end-to-end rush.
In his 11 games with the team that season, he recorded six goals and seven assists for 13 points.
At this point, Gerard was firmly established with the Ottawa Senators and he was about to enjoy a long career with the team.
In 1914-15, he appeared in all 20 games for the team, leading them to the Stanley Cup Final where they lost to the Vancouver Millionaires. That season, he had 19 points in 20 games.
He continued to lead by example on the team, recording 18 points in 24 games in 1915-16, and 26 points in 19 games in 1916-17. That season on Feb. 24, 1917, he recorded five goals in one game.
In 1917-18, the NHL was formed from the NHA and in his first season in the new league, he had 20 points in 20 games, finishing eighth in league scoring.
The next season, Gerard had 14 points in 18 games. That was the same season he was paired with Sprague Cleghorn on defense. They remained together for three seasons. Cleghorn said,
“The Gerard-Cleghorn partnership was known as the hardest to pass and the most dangerous to attack. Those were good years.”
The two players did their research with every team, making sure to note the weaknesses of the other players so they could figure out how to beat them.
By this point, the Senators were becoming a dominant team in the NHL, and part of that was because of the play of Gerard. In 1919-20, he finished with 16 points in 22 games, and then 15 points in 24 games the next season.
From 1920 to 1923, the Ottawa Senators went to every Stanley Cup Final, winning three times.
While not a huge player for his era, it was said that Gerard could hit with the force of a battering ram. He was also not a dirty player, and he took every hit and injury without a sound. His defensive partner Sprague Cleghorn stated that he was fast, could stickhandle and was not afraid of any living man.
The Ottawa Journal wrote,
“A stalwart defenceman, steady and dependable against the greatest forwards in the game, he never lost the speed and stick-handling ability which characterized his earlier play as a forward.”
Clint Benedict, who was the goalie for the Senators during those glory years, stated,
“I could relax when the puck was on the end of Eddie’s stick, knowing it would reach the other end of the rink when Eddie had it.”
Gerard was so good that even opponents wanted his help. In 1921-22, after recording 18 points in 21 games, the Toronto St. Pats eliminated the Senators from the playoffs. With Harry Cameron, a defencemen for Toronto injured, Gerard was asked to play for Toronto. Lester Patrick, the manager of the Millionaires agreed to this.
The Toronto Star wrote,
“The National League champions were loath to call for help but as Vancouver showed the way by using an Oatman, one of the stars of the Victoria team, they cannot be censured for strengthening now that Randall is out for the season with a broken thumb…Gerard will undoubtedly prove a valuable man in the emergency.”
In the Final, Gerard was a force and helped Toronto capture the Stanley Cup.
The following season, he was back with Ottawa, recording 14 points in 23 games, as the Senators captured their third Stanley Cup of the 1920s and Gerard won his fourth in a row. During that Stanley Cup Final, he taped a broken collar bone he suffered and went out onto the ice to help his team won.
As it turned out, that season and championship, would turn out to be his last.
Throughout his adult life, Gerard dealt with throat problems that were made worse by the cold air of the hockey rink. His doctor eventually advised him that though his throat ailment was benign at the moment, continued exertion in hockey could lead to serious problems. Gerard made the choice to retire in 1923 at the age of 33.
It wasn’t something he announced and everyone knew he wasn’t playing, but a gradual realization he wouldn’t be able to play.
On Oct. 9, 1923, the Ottawa Citizen wrote that Gerard was in hospital with an obstruction in his windpipe. He was expected to go through an operation to remove it if things did not improve.
The next day it was reported that he had visited a specialist to deal with the affliction impacting his throat.
On Nov. 16, 1923, the Ottawa Citizen reported when the Senators were making a trip to play a series of games against Edmonton.
“At the last minute, it was announced that Eddie Gerard would not be able to make the trip with the Ottawas.”
By December, it was clear that Girard was not returning to the team. The newspaper wrote,
“The Ottawas have reconciled to the loss of Eddie Gerard, their captain and star defenseman for the first half ot he season and they were making every possible effort to offset the blow sustained through the illness of Gerard.”
The team chose to ensure that Girard was paid for the season, despite not playing a single game. It was believed that without Gerard, the team would not be able to win the Stanley Cup that season.
The Daily Standard wrote,
“Girard has always given his best to Ottawa and nobody knows that better than do the officers of the Ottawa Club, who have always been noted for fair dealing with their players.”
Ottawa still did well that season, finishing first in the league but they lost to the Montreal Canadiens for the NHL Championship and were unable to compete for the Stanley Cup against the Vancouver Maroons of the PCHA.
In early February, it was announced there would be a benefit game played in late-February to help Gerard and his family. Whether that game was ever played, I do not know. It is never mentioned again after early-February.
On March 11, it was finally confirmed. Eddie Gerard was officially retired.
At this point, he moved into coaching. In 1924-25, he was hired by the Montreal Maroons and coached 11 games that season, with the team winning only once. He stayed on as coach in 1925-26, helping the Maroons finish second in the NHL and capture the Stanley Cup, the fifth of Gerard’s career.
In 1926-27, the team finished third, and lost in the quarterfinal, while in 1927-28 the team finished second in the Canadian Division but lost in the Stanley Cup Final.
In 1928-29, the Maroons finished in last place in their division and missed the playoffs. On July 8, 1929, he resigned from the Maroons. In his time as coach in the late-1920s, the team finished with a record of 80 wins, 75 losses and 24 ties.
Gerard took a year away from hockey, but then accepted an offer to coach the New York Americans. He coached the team for two seasons from 1930 to 1932, with the team finishing with 34 wins, 40 losses and 18 ties and never making the playoffs.
At this point, he resigned from the Americans and went back to the Maroons to coach them for two more seasons. The team finished second in the division in 1932-33 and third in 1933-34 but were unable to advance past the semi-final in either season.
When the Maroons moved to St. Louis to become the Eagles in 1934-35, Gerard went with them and coached the team for 13 games, winning only twice. He resigned from hockey for good on Dec. 11, 1934 due to ongoing throat problems.
In early-1935, Sprague Cleghorn wrote a piece for Macleans where he talked about Gerard, he wrote,
“There was a great hockey player. He had everything except robust health. He was fast, he could stick handle, he was afraid of no man living, and a qualification not always present even in players who make hockey headlines season after season, he had brains. No one had to tell Gerard what to do. He knew it instinctively.”
In August 1937, the throat problem began to get worse and Gerard was admitted to hospital.
The Ottawa Journal wrote on Aug. 3 that he was in critical condition at the hospital and went through an operation. Dr. J.K.M. Dickie stated that his condition was improving but it was still very serious.
On Aug. 4, it was reported that he was doing better in the hospital.
That all changed two days later when the Canadian Press reported that the condition of Gerard was not good.
On Aug. 7, Eddie Gerard died.
The Ottawa Journal wrote,
“One of the finest all-round athletes ever developed in the capital, it was as a hockey player that Eddie Gerard gained international fame as one of the greatest defencemen in the game.”
His former teammate and friend Sprague Cleghorn said,
“Eddie Gerard was the ideal type of hockey player. When I played on the defence with him for the Senators and we were winning world championships, we were a team that didn’t have a coach. We didn’t need one. Every man on the team knew how to play his position and Eddie Gerard knew more than any of us.”
Fellow hockey great King Clancy said,
“In his death Ottawa loses one of her greatest hockey stars. Not only was he a great player but a wonderful inspiration to his teammates.”
In 1945 when the first nine inductees were named into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Gerard was one of the nine. Three decades later, he was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
