I think Laviolette is a name that could've warranted discussion. I'm certain that among players who didn't show up in the project, he commanded the most star power. Though I have a feeling that he might be the true 'all style no substance' guy based on my limited reading of him.
For what it is worth, from my limited readings (3 seasons), I am in complete agreement with you. I think his 1904 season was quite strong (probably the best RW in the FAHL that year, IMO), but then he doesn't really distinguish himself on an average 1908 Shamrock team (5-5 record) and on a poor 1909 Shamrock team (2-10 record). He gets some mentions as the best player on his team, but also stuff like the following:
“Laviolette was easily the most showy player of the match Saturday”
“If Laviolette’s work was as effective as it is showy he would be a great hockey player”
“Hall, Johnson and Laviolette seem to be about the fastest skaters in the League this year but none of them are above par on scoring ability"
“In their lightning rushes down the ice both Pitre and Laviolette seem to sacrifice effectiveness or speed. If they eased up a little they might get better control of the puck”
“All eyes centered on Jack Laviolette, but while the French-Canadian defence man worked hard to sustain his great reputation, there was not much effect to his play”
“Jack Laviolette was there with the fancy goods again. Along with Pitre, now of Renfrew, but last year of Shamrocks, Laviolette last season shared the honors for performing circus stunts on the ice. He gave another fine display against Ottawa, but what he showed in frills he lacked in effectiveness”
“Laviolette is as fast and tricky as ever, but his work was, though showy, not very effective against the solid Ottawa bunch”
“Marshall played an effective game, blocking with great skill, while Laviolette was less showy than usual, but more effective"
“For Shamrocks, Laviolette starred in wonderful dashes up the ice, but, as usual, he was not effective in helping the scoring along"
“Laviolette was back in the game for the Shams and while he made a number of sensational rushes his work was not very effective”
Now, I do think he was also a very good player- as I said, he does get a lot of mentions for being one of the stars for those Shamrocks teams (probably more than Pitre received when they were on the same team. More than Marshall too, I think). But I also think his star power was heavily influenced by a showiness that doesn't seem to have positively moved the needle for his teams. He would have been a fun player to discuss, but I don't know if I would have ever voted for him.
Since we are on the topic- in the last thread,
@Black Gold Extractor brought up the idea of listing names that we never got to discuss that we perhaps should have at least discussed. I believe he mentioned Billy Breen and Rod Flett, and I added Billy Gilmour, Whitey Merritt, Archie Hodgson, Chauncey Kirby, and Fred Higginbotham.
@nabby12 mentioned Tony Gingras, Charlie Johnstone, Fred Scanlan, and Steamer Maxwell. Are there other names that people think should have been discussed?
