Dick Irvin

Lore & Background

Irvin was born in Hamilton, Ontario, one of 10 children, six boys and four girls. Two of the boys died in infancy, and the four girls all died of tuberculosis at an early age. His father James Dickinson Irvin Sr. was a butcher. The family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, when Dick Jr. was eight. Irvin played hockey from an early age, following in the footsteps of his oldest brother Alex. Their father would drive his sons and other boys to games by horse and sleigh, relying often upon the horses' sense of direction in winter blizzards to return home safely. The family flooded the driveway of their home to create an ice rink which the Irvin sons would play on. Irvin also set up a shooting area in the attic of the home, where he would shoot a puck at the doorknob of an old door mounted sideways against a wall. Irvin first played senior hockey with the Winnipeg Strathconas at the early age of 12. The Strathconas were reserve team to support the Winnipeg Monarchs. During the 1914 Allan Cup, Irvin was ruled ineligible to compete for the Monarchs. Team president Fred Marples declared that the Monarchs refused to defend the cup without Irvin. After three days of negotiating, the Monarchs agreed to play without Irvin in a one-game Allan Cup challenge versus the Kenora Thistles, instead of the customary two-game series decided on total goals scored. The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association was established later in 1914, which determined player eligibility for the Allan Cup. Irvin was declared eligible for the Monarchs and won the 1915 Allan Cup after the team had defeated the Melville Millionaires over two games 7 goals to 6 (3-4, 4-2). There were no further challenges, and Irvin and the Monarchs ended the season as Allan Cup champions. Irvin was also considered a top baseball player and he played on the Winnipeg Dominion Express team with his brothers Alex and George. Irvin was also a competitive curler.

In Their Own Story

The winter air hung heavy over the Forum as Irvin paced behind the bench, the roar of the crowd muffled by the tension in his chest. It was 1942, and the Rocket had just scored the tying goal. Without shouting, he simply nodded to his captain, a silent signal that steadied the room. He knew this game wasn't won on passion alone, but on patience. As the final horn blew, the silence broke into chaos, yet Irvin remained still, watching his boys skate, knowing another chapter of glory was written in ink and ice.

Reader's Guide

Irvin began his professional career in 1916 with the Portland Rosebuds of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and was the fourth leading scoring rookie tallying 35 goals. Before the following season, the Canadian government instituted a draft in August 1917 and Irvin was conscripted into the Canadian Expeditionary Force in November 1917. Irvin was taken on by The Fort Garry Horse regiment in April 1918 and arrived in England in May 1918. He was transferred to France in August 1918 and in October was transferred to a signals unit as a motorcycle rider. The war ended in November 1918 and Irvin arrived back in Halifax in May 1919. Irvin was reinstated as an amateur and he played three seasons with the Regina Victorias senior club. He returned to professional hockey in 1921 with the Regina Capitals of the Western Canada Hockey League. In 1926, at age 34, he entered the National Hockey League (NHL), signed by the newly formed Chicago Black Hawks. Irvin was made the team's first captain, and had an impressive campaign, finishing second in the league in scoring. In their first season, the Black Hawks led all NHL teams in scoring, led by Irvin and Babe Dye. Irvin's second season turned to tragedy as he fractured his skull, which led to retirement after the 1928–29 season, during which he had also added coaching duties. The Hawks had finished with the worst record in the NHL in both of his last two seasons as a player. Irvin was hired as head coach of the Black Hawks in 1930, and in his first season behind the bench led the team to 24 wins, 17 losses and 3 ties. The Black Hawks made it to the Stanley Cup Finals but lost and the Black Hawks released him in September 1931. That November, the Toronto Maple Leafs were winless after five games and manager Conn Smythe convinced Irvin to coach the Leafs. In his first season coaching the Leafs (the first in the brand-new Maple Leaf Gardens), he achieved immediate success by winning the Stanley Cup. Irvin would lead the Leafs to the finals six more times, but could not deliver another Cup to Toronto. By the end of the 1939–40 season, which ended with yet another loss in the finals, Smythe believed that Irvin had taken the Leafs as far as he could and decided to replace him with former Leafs captain Hap Day, who had spent two years as a referee after retiring as a player in 1938. Smythe also knew that he would be away in the

Did You Know?

• Irvin won the 1915 Allan Cup as a player with the Winnipeg Monarchs, not a Stanley Cup.
• He coached the Toronto Maple Leafs to one Stanley Cup (1932) and the Montreal Canadiens to three (1944, 1946, 1953).
• Irvin served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War as a motorcycle rider.
• He was the first captain of the Chicago Black Hawks in the NHL.
• Irvin fractured his skull during his second NHL season, which led to his retirement as a player.