Eddie Shore

At 82 years old, Eddie Shore has this physical status:

Shore started his career with his hometown minor hockey team in Cupar, Saskatchewan, the Cupar Canucks. He played for the Melville Millionaires and won the 1923-24 Saskatchewan senior championship.

Shore moved up to professional hockey with the Regina Capitals of the Western Canada Hockey League in 1925. His team finished last in the league and moved to Portland after the season. Shore moved to the league champion Edmonton Eskimos in 1926, where he converted from forward to defence and was given the nickname "the Edmonton Express".

When the Western Hockey League (renamed from the WCHL) folded in 1926, Shore was sold to the Boston Bruins of the NHL. As a rookie, he scored 12 goals and six assists for a total of 18 points and accumulated 130 penalty minutes. His first goal came on November 20, 1926 in Boston's 5-1 loss to Chicago. Shore helped the Bruins win their first Stanley Cup in 1929.

In the 1925–26 season, Billy Coutu and Sprague Cleghorn of the Montreal Canadiens were traded to the Boston Bruins. During their first practice with the Bruins, Shore strutted back and forth in front of Coutu and Cleghorn. Coutu body-slammed, head-butted, elbowed and tried to torment Shore. Next Coutu picked up the puck and made a rush at Shore. The two players collided. Shore held his ground and Coutu flew through the air violently crashing to the ice. Shore's ear was almost ripped off but he barely noticed it. Coutu was out cold and was out of commission for a week. Shore visited several doctors who wanted to amputate the ear, but found one who sewed it back on. After refusing anesthetic, Shore used a mirror to watch the doctor sew the ear on. Shore claimed Coutu used his hockey stick to cut off the ear, and Coutu was fined $50. Shore later recanted and Coutu's money was refunded.

Another unusual incident involving Shore occurred in January 1930 when he was challenged to a boxing match by baseball player Art Shires. While NHL President Frank Calder said that Shore's participation was up to Bruins' manager Art Ross to decide, baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis vetoed Shires' participation, and the match was never held. On January 24, 1933, during a game against Montreal, Shore accidentally punched NHL referee-in-chief Cooper Smeaton during a fight with Sylvio Mantha and was fined $100.

On March 30, 1933, Shore scored a playoff overtime goal against Toronto, the only time he accomplished that feat in his career.

In Boston Garden on December 12, 1933, Shore ended the career of Toronto Maple Leafs star Ace Bailey when he hit Bailey from behind. When Bailey's head hit the ice, he was knocked unconscious and went into convulsions. Moments earlier, Maple Leafs teammate King Clancy upended Shore with a hard check as he rushed up the ice. Angry, dazed, and thinking he was going after Clancy, Shore rushed at Bailey intent on revenge. In retaliation, the Leafs tough-guy Red Horner punched Shore, whose head hit the ice as he fell from the blow. Shore was knocked unconscious and required seven stitches but was not seriously injured. Bailey was rushed to hospital in critical condition with a fractured skull and was operated on for more than four hours. There were many fears that he could possibly die. He came out of a coma for the second time 10 days later, making a full recovery, but he did not play professionally again. When he was assured that Bailey would survive, league president Frank Calder suspended Shore for 16 games. An all-star benefit game was held at Maple Leaf Gardens on February 14, 1934, which raised $20,909 for Bailey and his family. Bailey and Shore shook hands and embraced at centre ice before the game began. Thirteen years later, the NHL introduced an annual all-star game.

Shore and the Bruins won their second Stanley Cup in 1939. Shore retired and bought the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League, where he was player-owner in 1939–40. He was persuaded to rejoin the Bruins after injuries to the Bruins' defence corps, with an agreement that he would play in home games for $200 per match. Shore played just four games for Boston, and was reported as being unenthusiastic about the arrangement. Obtaining permission to play in the Indians' home games, he began to agitate to play in Springfield road games as well, which provoked his trade to the New York Americans on January 25, 1940, for Eddie Wiseman and $5000. He stayed with the Americans through their elimination from the playoffs, and was simultaneously playing with the Indians in their playoff games. Shore's final NHL game was March 24 against the Detroit Red Wings, which coincidentally was also the final NHL game for Hall of Famer and teammate Nels Stewart.

In February 1940, Shore and eight other arena managers organized the Ice Capades.

Career statistics

* Stanley Cup Champion.

Source

• Named to the WHL first All-Star team in 1926.
• Stanley Cup winner in 1929 and 1939.
• Named to the NHL first All-Star team in 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1939.
• Won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player in 1933, 1935, 1936, 1938.
• Named to the NHL second All-Star team in 1934.
• His #2 Jersey was retired by the Boston Bruins in 1947.
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947.
• Won the Lester B. Patrick Award for contributions to hockey in 1970.
• Inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.
• In 1998, he was ranked #10 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
• In January, 2017, Shore was part of the first group of players to be named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.