Eddie Gerard

Eddie Gerard

Edward George Gerard was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and manager. He played professionally for 10 seasons for his hometown Ottawa Senators. Gerard won the Stanley Cup in four consecutive years from 1920 to 1923. He was one of the original nine players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame when it was founded in 1945.

About Eddie Gerard in brief

Summary Eddie GerardEdward George Gerard was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and manager. He played professionally for 10 seasons for his hometown Ottawa Senators. Gerard won the Stanley Cup in four consecutive years from 1920 to 1923. After his playing career he served as a coach and manager, working with the Montreal Maroons from 1925 until 1929. He also coached the New York Americans for two seasons between 1930 and 1932, before returning to the Maroons for two more seasons. He died from complications related to a throat ailment in 1937. He was one of the original nine players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame when it was founded in 1945. He is also an inductee of Canada’s Sports Hall of fame. Gerard was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on February 22, 1890, one of seven children. His middle name, George, was in honour of George Washington, who shares the same February 22 birthday. He lived in Ottawa’s New Edinburgh neighbourhood, and grew up with future National Hockey League players Aurèle Joliat and the four Boucher brothers: Billy, Bobby, Frank, and Georges. Outside hockey he worked initially for the Canadian government as a printer, before working in the Geodetic Survey, ultimately becoming chief engineering clerk. He had two daughters, Alisa and Margaret. In later life he was an avid golfer and fisherman, spending his summers near Pembroke,. Ontario, a town close to Ottawa. Gerard played rugby football for the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1909 as a halfback, helping them win the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union title that year.

He continued playing for the Rough Riders until 1913, leaving the team when he turned professional with the Senators. As Canadian football was strictly amateur at the time, Gerard would have been unable to continue in the sport if he became a professional athlete. As early as 1910 Gerard was approached by the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey Association, but he decided to remain an amateur. In November 1913 he was offered an extra C$1,600 for the season by the Montreal Canadiens, which would have made him the highest paid player in the hockey league. In 1908 he also joined the Ottawa Victorias in a challenge series for the Cup against the Cup holders, the Montreal Wanderers; Gerard replaced an injured player in a two-game, total-goal series won, which Montreal won, retaining the Cup. At age 15 he helped the Ottawa-New Edinburgh Canoe Club win the junior Dominion paddling championship. In 1913 he began to seriously consider turning professional, though it was not until that year that he was first offered an offer from the Sydney Hockey Club of the Maritime Hockey League with an extra USD 1,600 to come to Canada. In 1912 he changed careers in 1912, moving to the Government Printing Bureau, and rose in that field to chief engineering Clerk. In 1934 he retired due to the same throat issue that had ended hisPlaying career. In early August 1937 the issue, which had remained minor, began to worsen. He died in Ottawa on August 7, 1937.