Art Ross

Lore & Background

Outside of his association with the Bruins, Ross also helped to improve the game. He created a style of hockey puck still used today, and advocated an improved style of goal nets, a change that lasted forty years. In 1947, Ross donated the Art Ross Trophy, awarded to the leading scorer of the NHL regular season. Ross was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1949.

Reader's Guide

Arthur Howey Ross was born on January 13, 1885, in Naughton, Ontario. His father, Thomas Barnston Ross, was of Scottish descent and originally from Chicoutimi, Quebec, while his mother was Marguerite (Margaret) McLeod. Ross's parents initially lived in Lake St. John, Quebec (now Lac Saint-Jean), where Thomas worked for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). The family had ten children: nine sons and one daughter.

Around 1876, Thomas was transferred to a trading post in Northern Ontario close to the Whitefish Lake. Living in a remote outpost, the family would trek 370 km each way twice a year for supplies. Ross spent his early years at the trading post and first learned to skate on the nearby lake. He grew up speaking English, and was taught French by his mother, and later in life claimed he knew Ojibwe and Montagnais.

In 1892, the family moved back to Lake St. John, though Margaret left Thomas in 1895, and moved back to Ontario with her younger children. She married Peter McKenzie, who was the Chief Factor for HBC in the region (and thus Thomas's superior) in 1895. They moved again in 1896, settling in the affluent Westmount district of Montreal. Thomas also re-married, and by 1904 was living in Victoria, British Columbia, where he died in 1930.

In Montreal, Ross attended Westmount Academy, and became active in a variety of sports, though he was best at hockey and Canadian football (which was still very similar to rugby football at the time). He likely first played organized hockey in the 1900–01 season, joining the Westmount Amateur Athletic Association. With this club, he first met the brothers Lester and Frank Patrick, both of whom were later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Ross and Lester had a financially successful ticket resale business at the Montreal Arena, buying tickets for thirty-five cents and selling them for up to a dollar.

Pioneering Defensive Play and Stanley Cup Success

Ross was one of the first defenders to skate with the puck up the ice instead of passing it. He won the Stanley Cup twice: in January 1907 with the Kenora Thistles, where he was paid $1,000 to play but did not score, and in 1908 with the Montreal Wanderers. With the Wanderers in the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), he scored eight goals in ten games as they retained the Cup against challenges from Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Toronto. This made him the second player to win the Cup with different teams in consecutive years.

Labor Activism and Early Career Transitions

In 1911, Ross led one of the first organized player strikes over increased pay. His playing career spanned thirteen seasons across various leagues before ending when the Montreal Wanderers' home arena burned down in January 1918, causing the team to cease operations. After retiring as a player, he worked as an on-ice official for several years and served one season as head coach of the Hamilton Tigers.