Eddie Livingstone
| Eddie Livingstone | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 12, 1884 Toronto, ON, CAN |
| Died | September 11, 1945 (aged 60) |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Known for | Ice hockey executive, team owner and coach |
Edward James Livingstone (September 12, 1884 – September 11, 1945) was a Canadian sports team owner and manager. He was the principal owner of the Toronto Shamrocks and the Toronto Blueshirts professional ice hockey clubs of the National Hockey Association (NHA), where his battles with his fellow owners led them to create the National Hockey League.
Livingstone was born in Toronto, Ontario as the youngest of three children. He played junior and intermediate ice hockey with the St. George's Club in Toronto, before becoming an Ontario Hockey Association referee. He also covered ice hockey for the Toronto Mail and Empire, often reporting on the games he refereed.
Livingstone became manager of ice hockey and football at the Toronto Rugby and Athletic Association (TR & AA). The club, formed after a split from the Toronto Amateur Athletic Club, competed in the Ontario Hockey Association and won the John Ross Robertson Trophy as senior ice hockey champions of Ontario in 1913 and 1914.
His success in amateur hockey prompted Livingstone to make the jump to the professional game by buying the struggling Toronto Ontarios of the National Hockey Association (NHA). During the 1914–15 season, the Ontarios traded in their orange sweaters for green and were renamed the Toronto Shamrocks. The team skated to a record of 7 wins and 13 losses, an improvement of three games over the 1913–14 campaign.
During the 1914–15 season, on February 3, 1915, Sammy Lichtenhein's Montreal Wanderers were awarded a game by forfeit over the Shamrocks. The Shamrocks had told the league that they couldn't put a full team on the ice without George McNamara and Howard McNamara, who were at the bedside of their ill father. Livingstone asked for a postponement, but Lichtenhein refused and the league ruled the game forfeited. In a gesture of sportsmanship, Lichtenhein then made an offer to reschedule the game and play the Shamrocks on March 6, 1915. Shortly after, with the Wanderers and Ottawa in a tight two-way race for the league championship, Livingstone demanded that Lichtenhein follow through on his offer to play the forfeited game. Lichtenhein was incensed and threatened to have Livingstone thrown out of the NHA. The Wanderers and Ottawa ended the season tied for first place. The NHA executive met on March 4 and decided to recognize the forfeit and not order the Wanderers to play the Shamrocks (the Wanderers were told to pay the Shamrocks $300—the amount they saved by not having to travel to Toronto in February). Instead, a two-game, total-goals series was scheduled between Montreal and Ottawa to determine the champion. The league also rejected Lichtenhein's request to have Livingstone expelled from the NHA. Livingstone and Lichtenhein would continue to feud for years. At one meeting during the 1916–17 campaign, Lichtenhein grew so infuriated that he offered Livingstone $3,000 to abandon his team. Livingstone countered with a $5,000 bid for Lichtenhein to shut down his Wanderers.
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