How the NHL killed Hamilton's hockey franchise 100 years ago, after players went on strike for $200

It was successful March of 1925 — 100 years agone last week — that Hamilton's National Hockey League team, the Hamilton Tigers, was unopen down everlastingly due to the fact that players went connected strike.

Players were denied the $200 they were asking for connected their $3,000 declaration to play successful six further games. Instead of paying the players, Frank Calder — the archetypal president of the NHL — sold the team, ending the franchise successful Hamilton.

Myer Siemiatycki, prof emeritus of authorities astatine Toronto Metropolitan University, said it was a "distress sale," which paved the mode for the NHL to marque it large successful the United States.

Siemiatycki said Calder acted arsenic a "bully" successful forcing the merchantability alternatively than paying the players the other $200 each, adding that it's clip for the NHL to "do the close happening [and] springiness Hamilton its due." 

Siemiatycki said the day comes arsenic the City of Hamilton, and Canada, look a commercialized warfare forced connected them by different "bully" — U.S. President Donald Trump.

"This is eerie successful the timing sequencing of it. A 100 years agone contiguous (March 12), Hamilton [lost] a large cultural, civic and economical backbone of its municipality beingness — its NHL hockey team. The time earlier that 100th anniversary, present comes Donald Trump to enforce a 25 per cent tariff connected steel, and helium wants to destruct the Hamilton steelmaking industry," Siemiatycki told CBC Hamilton.  

"So, archetypal they came for the hockey team, present they're coming for the alloy industry, due to the fact that of president Trump, and I deliberation the awesome determination is truly to reenforce our resoluteness not to suffer thing truthful important again — that it's elbows up from present connected in. 

"We cognize that if we don't support the foundations of a metropolis and its municipality economy, that assemblage and metropolis is successful big, large trouble. So, it should stiffen our resolve. We person seen this hap earlier and we're not going to fto it hap again, Siemiatycki added.

Trump vows to marque Canada pay

Hamilton is location to astir 28,000 precocious manufacturing jobs, which see jobs successful the alloy sector, according to the section enclosure of commerce. That's astir 20 per cent much than the nationalist average.

On March 11, Trump slapped a 25 per cent levy connected alloy and aluminum coming into the U.S. aft saying connected societal media helium volition marque Canada wage a fiscal terms "so large that it volition beryllium work astir successful History Books for galore years to come." 

Days aboriginal Canada retaliated with a caller acceptable of counter-tariffs. The national authorities targeted $29.8 cardinal worthy of U.S. goods. This is successful summation to the archetypal question of counter-tariffs — connected $30 cardinal worthy of U.S. products — that Ottawa levied a week earlier.

'The NHL owes Hamilton,' Siemiatycki says

Siemiatycki said the clip is close for the NHL to either instrumentality to the City of Hamilton with a franchise, oregon wage the metropolis a "whack" of money.

"There's nary question that the NHL owes Hamilton, and they beryllium Hamilton large time," Siemiatycki said.

Siemiatycki says the NHL was "a fledgling and fragile league," backmost successful the 1920s, and it was the transportation of the Hamilton squad to New York that paved the mode for large enlargement of the NHL into large American cities. 

"Within astir a three-year period, the NHL would alteration from a four-team league — with each 4 teams successful Canada — to a 10-team league with six of the teams successful the United States," Siemiatycki said.  

"There's nary question that the occurrence of what became the New York Americans, who were truly the transplanted Hamilton Tigers, were a large origin successful demonstrating that determination was a market, that determination was a concern program down expanding into the United States and that enticed different American cities into the NHL. So, that's wherefore there's an IOU. The NHL has a large IOU to handle."

'We've been wronged,' University of Guelph prof. says

Jason Wilson, adjunct-professor astatine the University of Guelph, says helium tin ideate however wounded Ontarians indispensable person felt to person mislaid — for the archetypal clip — a nonrecreational hockey franchise to the United States. 

"Worse yet, they'd beryllium called the New York Americans," said Wilson, who is besides a Juno-nominated musician.

According to Wilson, not agelong ago, galore Canadians, particularly younger ones, were possibly little inclined to judge that hockey had been "stolen from Canada, living, arsenic we person been successful a continental monoculture." 

But helium said, "with an adversarial unit successful the White House, these sentiments of discourtesy are resonating with Canadians again and, for some, for the archetypal time. 

"We've been wronged. Why hasn't a Canadian squad won a cupful since 1993? Why doesn't Quebec and yes, Hamilton, person a squad erstwhile Phoenix bumbled on and yet gave up the shade to Utah successful the extremity anyway? Isn't this our game?"

A 'just and existent reward'

Meanwhile, Siemiatycki said determination are a fewer things the NHL could bash to settee with Hamilton.

He said "the conscionable and existent reward" would beryllium to springiness Hamilton an NHL franchise, pointing retired that the city, implicit the years and adjacent rather recently, has been pushing for an NHL team, and is besides renovating the hockey arena to marque it much economically viable.

"The eventual and conscionable payback would beryllium to springiness Hamilton an NHL team," Siemiatycki said, adding that determination are "economic reasons" to enactment this.

"Hamilton is portion of the GTHA — the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. It has a colonisation of implicit 7 cardinal people. The astir caller franchise successful the NHL to relocate, of course, was from Arizona to Salt Lake City successful Utah, with a metropolitan colonisation of hardly 1 million. So, the NHL decides to spell to a one-million colonisation alternatively of putting a 2nd squad successful the Greater Toronto Area," Siemiatycki said.

While admitting that specified a determination would necessitate fiscal compensation to the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres, Siemiatycki contends that "the NHL and each of its owners person profited phenomenally" by the enlargement of their manufacture — the hockey concern — to the United States.

"They beryllium this to Hamilton and it would beryllium a astute economical and selling determination by the NHL to enactment a 2nd squad into the Toronto area, which is 1 of the largest metropolitan centres successful each of North America." 

'Recognize that reparations are due'

But adjacent if an NHL franchise is not coming to Hamilton, Siemiatycki said the league should "recognize that reparations are due. The Hamilton squad was sold for $75,000. Even with ostentation implicit 100 years, that doesn't travel adjacent to the $2 billion US mean worth of a existent NHL franchise." 

"Hamilton made, successful a sense, the sacrifice of giving up a squad to let the enrichment of the league and aboriginal owners. If you're not going to springiness the metropolis a team, springiness it a whack of wealth to beforehand section hockey successful Hamilton." 

CBC Hamilton reached retired to the National Hockey League for remark but did not person a effect earlier publication. 

In November of 2023, Tim Leiweke — former Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO and president — promised to bring backmost a hockey squad to Hamilton successful a mates of years to a revamped FirstOntario Centre, conscionable not an NHL franchise.

Shorty Green cemented Hamilton's bequest successful N.Y.

Siemiatycki said Shorty Green, who was squad person for the Hamilton Tigers during their wage dispute, went connected to execute a milestone with the New York Americans. 

"The archetypal goal, the archetypal NHL extremity ever scored successful Madison Square Garden successful the New York Americans archetypal location crippled was scored by Shorty Green," helium said.

"[It was] a bully benignant of transportation over, you know, conscionable to prove, conscionable to cement the bequest of the Hamilton Tigers. The onslaught person scored the archetypal extremity successful Madison Square Gardens successful NHL history."