James E. Norris

Background

Norris was born in Montreal, the son of James Sylvester Norris, who was involved in a grain trading company. The Norris family had amassed substantial wealth in the 19th century, owning mills, a fleet of ships, and several tracts of land. Norris moved to Chicago at age 18 when his father moved Norris Grain Inc. there, and became president of the company at age 28 in 1908. By the 1930s he was the largest cash grain buyer in the world, and also ran the Norris Cattle Company, which operated three of the largest cattle ranches in the United States.

In the NHL, Norris initially bid for the Chicago team in 1926 but lost to Frederic McLaughlin. He was a financial backer of Chicago Stadium, which opened in March 1929.

In 1932, he acquired the Detroit Falcons from receivership, renamed them the Detroit Red Wings, and designed the team's logo—a wing protruding from a wheel—adapted from the old Montreal Hockey Club logo. Under his ownership, the Red Wings won five Stanley Cups. Norris rarely saw his team play due to a heart condition, but coach Jack Adams called him after each game.

After McLaughlin's death in 1944, Norris helped assemble a syndicate to buy the Black Hawks, and it was understood he called the shots. He had bought Chicago Stadium in 1936, making him the Black Hawks' landlord, and had bought enough stock in Madison Square Garden to effectively control the New York Rangers. His loans to the Boston Bruins gave him clout over that franchise as well, giving him outright control or significant influence over all four American NHL teams.