Jack Darragh
Ottawa Senators forward and four-time Stanley Cup champion.
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John Proctor Darragh (December 4, 1890 – June 28, 1924) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who spent his entire career with the Ottawa Senators in the National Hockey League (NHL) and its forerunner, the National Hockey Association (NHA). He won four Stanley Cups (1911, 1920, 1921, 1923) and an NHA championship in 1915. In the 1920 Stanley Cup Final, Darragh became the first NHL player to score three game-winning goals in a single final series—a record that has been matched but never broken. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962.
Darragh made an unusual leap straight from amateur hockey to the pros, with no junior experience. In 1909–10, he played for three different amateur clubs: the Ottawa Stewartons, Fort Coulonge, and Ottawa Cliffsides. The next season, after Ottawa Senators forward Horace Gaul was injured against the Montreal Canadiens, Darragh earned a spot on the NHA team.
He signed his first professional contract with manager Pete Green at the Uwanta Lunch restaurant on Sparks Street in Ottawa for $15 a week. In his debut, he scored a goal against Montreal’s Georges Vézina. By the 1914–15 season, he was named team captain, though Horace Merrill took over the role the following year.
Darragh was known for clutch scoring. In the 1920 Stanley Cup Final, he netted all three game-winners against the Seattle Metropolitans.
The next year, against the Vancouver Millionaires, he scored both goals in a 2–1 deciding game victory. He and teammate Hamby Shore were involved in the NHL’s first contract dispute, missing part of the opening game of the league’s inaugural season—a 7-4 loss to the Canadiens—before finally agreeing to terms at the last minute. Darragh is one of only two players, along with Mike Bossy, to score the Stanley Cup-winning goal in back-to-back seasons.
After the 1921 Cup win, Darragh retired but returned a year later to help the Senators win the 1923 championship, their third in four seasons with him in the lineup. In his final NHL season, 1923–24, he suffered a broken right kneecap after colliding with Hamilton’s Edmond Bouchard at the Ottawa Auditorium, missing parts of the season. He retired for good after that campaign and died a few months later from peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth and daughters Aileen, Frances, and Marion.
Background
Jack Darragh made a meteoric jump directly from the amateur ranks to professional hockey, without any schooling in the junior game, going from playing with Ottawa Stewartons, Fort Coulonge, and Ottawa Cliffsides in three different amateur leagues in 1909–10 to earn a place with the Ottawa Senators of the NHA at the beginning of the 1910–11 campaign when Horace Gaul got injured. He was signed to his first professional contract by manager Pete Green at the restaurant Uwanta Lunch at Sparks Street in Ottawa for $15 per week. In his professional debut, he scored a goal against Georges Vézina and the Montreal Canadiens. He soon established himself as an important piece of the team and during the 1914–15 season he was chosen team captain, a role that Horace Merrill took over the following year.
Darragh played his entire professional career with the Ottawa Senators. He was a big part of their success, winning four Stanley Cups. His skillset included a particular penchant for clutch scoring; he potted all three game-winning goals against the Seattle Metropolitans in 1920, and in the 1921 Stanley Cup Final against Vancouver Millionaires, he scored both goals in a 2–1 deciding game victory.
He and teammate Hamby Shore had the NHL's first contract dispute; on the opening night of the NHL they finally came to terms at the eleventh hour and missed part of the first game, which the Senators lost 7-4 to the Montreal Canadiens. Darragh is one of two players (with Mike Bossy) to have scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in back-to-back seasons. He retired after the 1921 Stanley Cup win, but returned after one season to play for the Stanley Cup-winning team of 1922–23.
During his last NHL season in 1923–24 Darragh suffered a broken right knee cap after colliding with Edmond Bouchard of the Hamilton Tigers at the Ottawa Auditorium, which held him off the ice for parts of the season. He retired for a second time after the 1923–24 season and died a few months later due to peritonitis from a ruptured appendix. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth and three daughters. Darragh was the third player from the 1911 Stanley Cup winning Ottawa Senators team to die within less than 10 years.
Career statistics and honours
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1909–10 | Fort Coulonge | PontHL | ||||||||||
| 1909–10 | Ottawa Stewartons | OCHL | 5 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 1909–10 | Ottawa Cliffsides | IPAHU | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1909–10 | Ottawa Cliffsides | Allan Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1910–11 | Ottawa Stewartons | OCHL | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1910–11 | Ottawa Senators | NHA | 16 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1910–11 | Ottawa Senators | St-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Ottawa Senators | NHA | 17 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1911–12 | NHA All-Stars | Exh. | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ottawa Senators | NHA | 20 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1913–14 | Ottawa Senators | NHA | 20 | 23 | 5 | 28 | 69 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1914–15 | Ottawa Senators | NHA | 18 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 32 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| 1915–16 | Ottawa Senators | NHA | 21 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1916–17 | Ottawa Senators | NHA | 20 | 24 | 4 | 28 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 1917–18 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 18 | 14 | 5 | 19 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1918–19 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 14 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 33 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 1919–20 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 23 | 22 | 14 | 36 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1919–20 | Ottawa Senators | St-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| 1920–21 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 24 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1920–21 | Ottawa Senators | St-Cup | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 12 |
| 1921–22 | Did not play | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1922–23 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 24 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1923–24 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 18 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| NHA totals | 132 | 122 | 16 | 138 | 221 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 12 | ||
| NHL totals | 121 | 66 | 46 | 112 | 113 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | ||
| St-Cup totals | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 21 | ||
Tables copied from the source article, totals included as the source gives them: Wikipedia: Jack Darragh (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wide tables scroll sideways.
More in Hockey Hall of Fame Players
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Jack Darragh (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Statistics, medals and awards: the tables of the source article.
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