Joe Pelletier
Registered User
About The Book
The Greatest Hockey Trades of All Time is an encyclopaedic deep dive into the most pivotal moments of NHL history—moments that changed the fate of teams and defined the legacies of hockey's greatest players. From blockbuster deals that sparked dynasties to trades that left fans stunned, this book takes you inside the decisions that reshaped the sport.
From the most stunning blockbuster trades to pivotal moves that flew under the radar, Pelletier delves into the history and context of each deal, offering fresh perspectives on the moments that reshaped the league. Beginning with the history of player exchanges in sports, the book highlights the ten most significant hockey trades ever made, then expands to cover franchise-by-franchise recaps of key trades and the blockbuster deals that almost happened.
Whether you're a lifelong fan, a history buff, or new to the sport, this book offers a thrilling journey through the highs and lows of hockey’s most unforgettable moments. Hockey author Joe Pelletier brings the game’s rich history to life with his signature blend of in-depth research, compelling storytelling, and a deep passion for the sport. With a keen eye for detail and an ability to uncover the untold stories behind the game's biggest moments, Pelletier has become a trusted voice for hockey fans and historians alike.
About The Author
Joe Pelletier has previously written The World Cup of Hockey, The Legends of Team Canada, Pucks On The ‘Net and 50 Years of Canucks Hockey. He is the curator of GreatestHockeyLegends.com and HockeyBookReviews.com. He has worked with many NHL teams and rights partners and publishers, Hockey Canada, USA Hockey and as hockey consultant for the Canadian Museum of History.
I have long been a HFboards lurker, especially of the All Time Draft where I know my work has often been quoted
To Purchase
Paperbacks and ebooks available:
Amazon.ca - Amazon.ca
Amazon.com - Amazon.com
Available at all national Amazons across the globe.
Book Excerpt Chapter One
The First Trade in Hockey History
The first thing you have to understand about the world of professional sports is that it is a world unto itself.
That point gets hammered home pretty quickly when you realize what these athletes are paid. In many cases athletes are paid ridiculous amounts of money to play a game. They get paid many times more than teachers or police officers or virtually everyone who has an important job. Millions and millions of dollars more.
Add in all the hero worship, travel, and ancillary opportunities, and it's hard to find much downside to the world of pro sports. Well, there is a lot of dedication needed, presuming that you can skate or throw a ball really well in the first place.
And then there are trades. At any given moment your whole life can be turned upside down because your boss has traded you to another employer in a different city altogether.
In what other profession are employees traded to other organizations? Only in the world of pro sports, though I’m sure we have all wished we could trade that annoying, self important, middle manager across the street for the nice girl at the front desk and future considerations.
Nowhere, that’s where. So just how did the trading of athletes become a thing in their world, anyway?
The origins of trading athletes dates back to the late 1800s, as amateur sports became increasingly amateur in name only, and by the turn of the century they would openly professionalise. Professionalism meant athletes now had legal contracts, and it did not take owners long to figure out those contracts and those athletes were essentially assets.
It seems the practice originated in horse racing. Jockey contracts were commonly traded by “Jockey Clubs” as gambling on horse races became incredibly lucrative. This appears to have set precedent for such transactions in the always competitive world of sport.
With origins of the National League of Major League Baseball dating back to 1876, baseball is the only of the major sports in North America older than professional hockey. The first recorded trade in baseball history occurred on August 29th, 1885. The Louisville Colonels traded John Connor and $750 to Chattanooga for Toad Ramsey, the pitcher who invented the knuckleball.
It should be noted that a few baseball players were sold to other teams dating back to as early as 1883. On July 1st of that year the Philadelphia Quakers sold Fred Lewis for cash, with reports suggesting either $800 or $1000 being the agreed upon sum. Essentially Lewis was traded for cash, but MLB nor baseball historians do not seem to consider that to be a trade.
Loaning players to other teams was common in baseball beginning way back 1876. It was also common in hockey into the early days of the NHL. But a loan really is not a trade. How can it be when you get the athlete back?
And of course, cash transactions have always been standard in soccer, or football as most of the world calls it. Over the many years there have been plenty of player transactions but they are almost always straight up cash purchases and called transfers. It is pretty rare to see players involved in a transfer. English football has been openly professional since 1875. The first transfer in football history is said to have happened in 1883. Some say the first transfer was when Jack “Skimmy” Southworth was moved from the Blackburn Rovers to Everton for the sum of £400. That same year also saw Scottish player Willie Groves switch from West Bromwich Albion to Aston Villa for £100.
Hockey also dates back to these same time periods. So what was the first trade in hockey history?
Like the other sports, this turns out to be a complicated question with no certain answer.
According to the website NHLTradeTracker.com the first trade in National Hockey League history took place on November 28th, 1918, in the NHL’s second season. The Montreal Canadiens sent an undisclosed amount of cash to the Ottawa Senators for eventual Hockey Hall of Famer Tommy Smith. However, there is no statistical record of Smith playing in Ottawa or Montreal that season. In fact he had been out of big league hockey for two seasons by that point, with Montreal, then of the National Hockey Association - predecessor to the National Hockey League - being the last big league team he played for in 1917. Perhaps the Canadiens bought his rights, hoping to lure him back? Smith did come back for a final appearance in big league hockey - and his only 10 games in the NHL - with the Quebec Bulldogs in 1919-20. Smith had great success with Quebec in the NHA. Regardless, it was a trade for straight cash, and if that’s not good enough for baseball historians, it’s not good enough for us either. Besides, if baseball historians don’t recognize cash transactions as a player trade, maybe we should not either.
So if we don’t accept the mysterious Smith transaction, NHLTradeTracker.com suggests the next trade in NHL history was a couple of weeks later on December 14, 1918. The Toronto Arenas acquired another future Hockey Hall of Famer named Rusty Crawford from Ottawa in exchange for future consideration, which turned out to be the loan of Harry Cameron. But the reality is this was not a trade, per se. Crawford was loaned by the Senators to Toronto the previous season. The rough and tumble Crawford helped the Arenas win the Stanley Cup and that convinced the Arenas to keep him. So the Arenas signed him to a contract, with Ottawa protesting that he was still their player. NHL president Frank Calder ruled on the matter by letting Toronto keep Crawford but forcing them to surrender a player to Ottawa.
So if that deal was not a trade in the truest sense, we might have to look to the NHL’s third season, 1919-20, to find our first NHL trade.
On December 21, 1919, the Quebec Bulldogs traded another future Hockey Hall of Famer Goldie Prodgers (often misspelt as Prodger) to Toronto, now known as the St. Patricks, in exchange for Eddie Carpenter. Now this one requires some explanation, too. Prodgers had just returned from duty with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I. His NHL rights were immediately assigned to Quebec, but he refused to report. So the Bulldogs sought to trade his rights, and possibly made multiple trade agreements but Prodgers reportedly would only accept a deal with Toronto. So while it appears this trade is legitimate, it was forced as well, this time by the player. But it was the first player for player exchange in NHL history.
Of course professional hockey predates the National Hockey League. Hockey’s first trade did not happen in the NHL at all.
As already mentioned, the eastern based NHA was forerunner to the NHL for much of the 1910s. At the same time west had a rival professional league called the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. The PCHA was known for poaching top talent from eastern Canada with big money contracts. But they also began trading for the rights of NHL talent, almost always offering cash. So is that a trade, or a sale?. It was often a moot point as many of the players refused to report. Some just could not agree to contracts with their new team. Some did not want to leave their current city, as often they held cushy jobs outside of hockey that were just as lucrative.
But hockey’s first trade would be much more obscure than that. It seems we have to look at the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League in the 1907-08 season.
The Pittsburgh Bankers were a fun team in that turn of the century league. And the team had great outfits - blue and later green sweaters with a gold dollar sign as a logo!
The WPHL was one of the first openly professional hockey leagues. While there was a thin veil of amateurism still in hockey, the Pennsylvanian circuit outright hired players. Hall of Famers Hod Stuart, Alf Smith and Tommy Smith all were lured to the Bankers for dollar signs beyond what was on their sweater.
Remember, records and archives are sketchy in the early days of hockey history. The International Professional Hockey League was a rival pro league at the time, but records of that league have proven almost impossible to unearth. There very well could be trades hidden away in this league. But until these and other long lost archives are found, the answer for the first trades of professional hockey players happened in the WPHL.
The Bankers traded Angus “Dutch” Koch to the Pittsburgh Lyceum for Harry Burgoyne in December 1907, and in early January, reacquired Koch from Lyceum in exchange for Fred Young. A bigger deal took place on January 27, 1908, when the Bankers sent Joe Donnelly and Bert Bennett to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jim MacKay, Edgar Dey and Dunc Taylor. On January 31 the Bankers moved Gordon McGuire to the Pirates through a separate transaction, possibly involving cash.
The Bankers would win the league championship that season, thanks in part to stacking their roster with trades. It’s a good thing they went for broke then as the entire league and the Bankers franchise all folded a year later.
Was that the first trade in hockey history? All these deals were reported in The Pittsburgh Press at the time though the idea of trading hockey players does not come across in the reporting as unusual practice in any way. Perhaps that was because of baseball’s influence? Or were there other trades in hockey history that have been lost by poor archiving of the era?
Until further archives are unearthed, it seems Dutch Koch and Harry Burgoyne, unknown figures in the hockey world, are the trivia answer as to who was involved in the first trade in hockey history.
Thank you to HFboards members Marcel, James and Nathan for all the encouragement.
