Russell Bowie
| Russell Bowie | |||
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| Hockey Hall of Fame, 1947 | |||
Bowie around 1905.
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| Born |
August 24, 1880 Montreal, QC, CAN |
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| Died | April 8, 1959 (aged 78) Montreal, QC, CAN |
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| Position | Rover/Forward | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | Montreal Victorias | ||
| Playing career | 1896–1908 | ||
Russell George Alexander "Russ, Dubbie" Bowie (August 24, 1880 – April 8, 1959) was a Canadian ice hockey player generally regarded as one of the best players of the pre-NHL era of the sport. Bowie was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947. A staunch amateur, he retired from playing in 1909 when all major hockey leagues turned professional, though he continued as an on-ice official until an injury forced his retirement. In nine seasons of competitive play, he led his league in goal scoring five times.
Bowie played centre and rover for numerous amateur Montreal teams in the 1890s as a teenager, and for the Montreal Victorias of the AHAC, CAHL and ECAHA from the 1896 to 1908 seasons. He was a five-time scoring champion and scored an unprecedented 234 goals in 80 recorded league games. Bowie played for the Vics' final Stanley Cup champion club in 1898. An accomplished stickhandler who credited his skill to employing an unusually short stick, he was cited in many all-star lists as one of the very best forwards of hockey's first half-century.
On February 20, 1901, Bowie of the Montreal Victorias scored seven goals in a game and was well positioned to dominate the CAHL, and two weeks later, he scored 6 goals against the Montreal Shamrocks. He finished the season with 24 goals, 14 more than his nearest rival. Over his career, Mr. Bowie would average almost three goals per game, a mark only matched by Frank McGee in major senior play.
Bowie never accepted money to play hockey, famously refusing all importuning and turning down large offers, and was quoted as saying, "I am an amateur, was an amateur, and will die an amateur." He weathered a scandal in 1907 where it was alleged that he had taken pay from the professional Montreal Wanderers club, but the allegations were proven baseless—although the Wanderers did send him a grand piano in anticipation of Bowie's acceptance of their offer, an inducement he refused to receive. He did play against professionals in the ECAHA and IPHL.
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