HOCKEY NOTES

Odie Cleghorn

Right Wing / Center 

5-9 195

b. 19 Sep 1891 Montreal, Quebec

d. 13 Jul 1956

Ogilvie James Cleghorn broke in with the Renfrew Creamery Kings hockey club for the 1910-11 season, signing, as did his brother Sprague, for a reported $1,000 for the season. When Renfrew dropped out of the league, Cleghorn went on to play six seasons with the Montreal Wanderers as a right winger and, after Ernie Russell retired, at center. Cleghorn's playmates included marksman Harry Hyland, power forward Gordon Roberts, silky-smooth Don Smith, and Russell's heir apparent, Alfred "Brownie" Baker.

Despite being rough and pudgy, Cleghorn was capable of threading his way through entire teams, cradling the puck in tight as he weaved his way to the net. The little fellow, known as "the game's premier puck wizard," used a short stick and was famous for a vast array of head feints and dekes. In his day, crowds delighted most in exhibitions of stick wizardry and in this regard he was the master showman. And although he was not as accomplished a pugilist as his brother Sprague, Odie was ready and able to mix things up.

Cleghorn missed the entire 1917-18 season due to a military exemption agreement — he could stay out of the military only if he didn't play hockey. He joined the cross-town Montreal Canadiens in 1918, putting up seven seasons there as a top-flight scorer. In 193 games in the NHA and NHL, he managed 214 goals and 267 points. He's also said to have invented the three-line system in the late 1920s. He died in 1956, on the day of his brother's funeral.

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