HOCKEY NOTES

Jack Laviolette (The Speed Merchant)

Defense / Right Wing

5-11 170

b. 27 Jul 1879 Belleville, Ontario
d. 10 Jan 1960 Montreal, Quebec

A product of Belleville, Ontario, Jean-Baptiste Laviolette began his hockey career in 1903 with the Montreal Nationals. After three seasons with the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) Michigan Soo Indians, he joined the Montreal Shamrocks as a defenseman. In late 1909, he was asked to form and play for the first edition of the Montreal Canadiens. In this dual capacity would he gain recognition as the original Flying Frenchman.

After securing the necessary financial backing to start up the Canadiens, Laviolette found his sniper in Didier Pitre. When he added Newsy Lalonde and Ernie Dubeau, Laviolette had formed the nucleus of what has become the most successful franchise in hockey history. He initially manned the Montreal point but later moved to the left wing to skate alongside Pitre and Lalonde. Laviolette's skating and great speed came to the fore on a line already blessed with top-flight skills.

The Montreal Star often featured Laviolette in its sports cartoons. He was one of the instantly recognizable players of his day, with his trademark coolie hat, long, jet-black hair whipping in the wind, powerful skating strides, and an assortment of fakes, dekes, pirouettes and spin-a-ramas.

Laviolette was an avid race car enthusiast, which is a risky sport at the best of times. In the summer of 1919 he lost a foot in a crash when he was driving at Montreal's Delorimier Downs racetrack. Amazingly, he came back to do some refereeing in 1921 on an artificial right foot. His last hockey-related appearance was at the Montreal Forum in 1957, when a number of hockey veterans attended a charity old-timers game sponsored by the Quebec Oldtimers Hockey Association.

Laviolette was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962.

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