Tommy Lockhart

Lore & Background

Lockhart began his sports administration career promoting amateur boxing at Old Madison Square Garden, then became vice-president of the Metropolitan Association of the AAU and vice-chairman of USA Boxing. He was asked by the Garden's ownership to manage amateur hockey games, making Sunday afternoon amateur hockey profitable. He served as vice-president of the Metropolitan Amateur Hockey League for eighteen years starting in 1934.

In 1933, Lockhart convinced the Tri-State Hockey League to add his three New York teams, leading to the formation of the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL), with Lockhart as president. To cover for unplayed home games, he submitted phony game scores to newspapers and printed a clause in the 1933 game program stating extra games would be played at practice hours not open to the public. He instituted three trophies: the Walker Cup for regular season champions, the Atlantic City Boardwalk Trophy for playoff champions, and the Hamilton B. Wills Trophy for a challenge series between Canadian and U.S. teams.

Lockhart introduced on-ice entertainment including model aircraft and bicycle races, figure skating acts, and a grizzly bear on roller skates. He promoted hockey via radio, charged 25-cent tickets, and began advance ticket sales. He managed the New York Rovers farm team, briefly coached them in 1935–36, and later managed the New Haven Ramblers. As business manager of the New York Rangers from 1947 to 1953, he became the first American-born team executive in the NHL other than a president or vice-president.

Reader's Guide

Lockhart's significance lies in his foundational role in American hockey administration. He founded the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States in 1937, creating a national governing body that eventually became USA Hockey. He led AHAUS into the International Ice Hockey Association in 1940 and into the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace in 1947, integrating U.S. hockey into international structures. His leadership of the Eastern Hockey League for nearly four decades provided a stable professional league and introduced innovations like a 10-minute overtime period to reduce ties. Lockhart's promotions at Madison Square Garden made amateur hockey profitable, and his scheduling ruses and creative entertainment drew crowds. He arranged exhibition tours for the Soviet national team in 1963 and an EHL all-star team to the Soviet Union. His work developing American-born players and referees, and his management of Rangers farm teams, contributed to the growth of hockey in the United States. He was inducted into both the Hockey Hall of Fame and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, and received the Lester Patrick Trophy for building the game in the United States.

Did You Know?

• Lockhart never played hockey growing up; his early sports involvement was in cycling, distance running, track and field, and boxing.
• He purchased the Walker Cup from a pawnbroker for $500, then later repurchased the same cup for $80.
• He suspended a player for life in 1952 after Joe Desson assaulted referee Mickey Slowik on the ice.
• He booked a grizzly bear from the circus that performed on roller skates during a game intermission.