When the story of the Spanish Flu and the NHL is told, Joe Hall is often the focus as a hockey player who died from the flu.
He wasn’t the only player to die from the flu, nor was he the first. Six months before Hall died, Hamby Shore lost his life to the Spanish Flu.
Shore may have never found his place into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but he was still a great player in his own right.
Hamby Shore was born Samuel Hamilton Shore on Feb. 12, 1886 in Ottawa. As a young kid, he played hockey at the Gladstone Avenue Rink, as the Ottawa Silver Seven were winning Stanley Cups.
In 1904, Shore joined the Ottawa Hockey Club of the Federal Amateur Hockey League when he was 18. At the time, the club was one of the best in Canada and a Stanley Cup champion.
In six games with the club, he had three goals. He also had another two goals in one game as the Senators captured another Stanley Cup. Despite only being 17, he was on the ice when the Dawson City Nuggets made their famous journey across Canada to play for the Cup.
The next season, he went over to the Winnipeg Seniors of the Manitoba Hockey League. He was considered one of the best players on the team, the newspaper wrote,
“Hamby Shore was only in half of the game but during that time he demonstrated that he was plainly entitled to a position on the team.”
After his time with Winnipeg, Shore played one game for the Pembroke Lumber Kings, before he moved back to the Senators who were now in the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association.
In 10 games with the team from 1906-07, he had 15 goals and was an All-Star.
After that season in Ottawa, Shore was back to Winnipeg where he played 14 games for the Strathconas, scoring 23 goals. He then went over to the Winnipeg Maple Leafs that season, playing one regular season game and two Stanley Cup games. Despite his two goals in the Stanley Cup series against the Montreal Wanderers, the team lost the two-game total goals series 20 goals to 8.
In 1909, Shore returned to the Ottawa Senators, where he remained for the rest of his career. That year, with Cyclone Taylor gone to the Renfrew Millionaires, Shore started to play defence. The Ottawa Journal wrote,
“His steadiness, clever defensive tactics, skating and shooting ability marked him as a rare defence find.”
In January 1910, after he returned back in Ottawa, he had eight goals in 14 games. In the Stanley Cup series against Galt Hockey Club played from Jan. 5 to 7, 1910, he had the winning goal as the team defeated Galt 15 goals to four. Shore captured his second Stanley Cup.
Two weeks later, the Edmonton Hockey Club challenged Ottawa for the Stanley Cup. Ottawa retained the Stanley Cup, defeating Edmonton 13 goals to 10. In four games during those two series, Shore had three goals.
In March 1911, the Senators went through two more challenges, once against defeating Galt 7-4, and then three days later defeating Port Arthur 13-4. Shore had his third Stanley Cup, but he had no goals in two games.
In 1911-12, Shore had eight goals in 18 games. The following season in 1912-13, Shore rebounded to have his best season since 1907-08, scoring 15 goals in 19 games.
In 1912, Shore toured with the NHA All-Stars in games against teams from the Pacific Coast Hockey League.
Shore was known to play at different positions throughout his career. He typically played in a forward position but could also defence and rover. Playing defence, he was known to drive the offence of the team.
Shore was known to be a strong skater, who could quickly get up the ice to lead a rush.
In March 1912, Shore was not feeling great and contemplating leaving hockey. Early in that month, he announced that he was through with hockey for good. He stated he would finish out the schedule and play Stanley Cup games if needed. This came after Shore was hit in the neck and had an attack of laryngitis. The Daily Gleaner wrote,
“He intends to take a couple of weeks’ treatment for his neck at the end of the season and will not take part in any post season games.”
When asked about playing hockey, Shore simply said that he had enough.
But he was not going to be away from the game for long.
In early October 1912, he signed a contract with the Ottawa Senators once again. At this point, he was considered the captain of the team and was the oldest player on the team.
In December 1912, he was having trouble getting ready for the next season. The Ottawa Journal wrote,
“There is a lot of uneasiness about Hamby Shore. He did not turn out to practice and the club are anticipating trouble in getting him on the ice in condition.”
Five days later, Shore was back on the ice. The Journal wrote,
“Hamby Shore didn’t do any strenuous work, contenting himself with skating around the rink, but he should be ready for the season within the next ten days.”
By the end of the month, Shore was back into game shape and ready to help the team.
From this point, Shore’s production began to slip. In 1913-14, he had six goals and nine points in 13 games.
In 1914-15, Shore finished with just five goals and six points in 20 games. In the Stanley Cup Final against the Vancouver Millionaires that season, Ottawa lost three games to none. In five games, Shore had no goals or points.
In 1915-16, Shore had his worst season of his career, scoring two goals and recording three points in 19 games.
During the 1916-17 season, Shore had a brief bounce back in his production, with 11 goals and 17 points in 19 games.
In 1917-18, the Senators moved to the NHL and Shore went with them. On opening night, Shore and Jack Darragh had the first contract dispute in NHL history when they showed up late for a Senators game asking for more money.
The Ottawa Journal wrote,
“When Ottawa skated out after the start of the game had been held up 15 minutes, they were without Hamby Shore on the defence and Jack Darragh on the right rail…Hamby Shore had his troubles fixed up between the first and second periods and when play was resumed, he was in his place on the defence.”
The team lost that first game 7-4 to the Montreal Canadiens.
In 18 games, he had three goals and 11 points.
In early October 1918, Shore began to feel ill. At the time, the Spanish Flu was beginning to rage across Canada as soldiers returned to the country from the war. He became stricken with the flu while taking care of his wife, who was also sick. While his wife got better, Shore got worse.
On Oct. 13, 1918, Hamby Shore died from the Spanish Flu in Ottawa.
The Ottawa Journal wrote,
“The untimely death of Hamby Shore was hardly needed to make the gloom of Ottawa sport followers deep and profound over the holiday. If anything more was required to impress the gravity of the situation upon those who have escaped the prevailing sickness, it was supplied in the sudden passing of a figure admired in the athletic world for nothing if not sturdiness and stamina.”
Shore’s memorial service was held at the home of his mother-in-law, and then taken to his gravesite. Along the way, hundreds of people watched the casket pass by. Floral tributes were sent by the Ottawa Senators, the National Hockey League, the Department of the Interior where Shore worked and many more places.
In his NHA and NHL career, Shore had 63 goals and 82 points in 154 games.
Despite being one of the top players of his era, he was never inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
