In 1941, Johnny Quilty became the first Montreal Canadiens player to win the Calder (not yet Memorial) Trophy as the National Hockey League rookie of the year, but odds are that you have never heard of him and have no idea who he is. So who was this young impact player? What was his contribution in his rookie season? And what happened to him that he just disappeared from discussion?
Quilty was born in Ottawa, Ontario, where he quickly rose to prominence in high school sports playing for Glebe Collegiate Institute in 1936 as a junior, helping them to the regional junior championship. In 1937 he switched high schools to St. Patrick’s College of Ottawa where he continued to excel in various disciplines, including football, baseball, boxing, and hockey. Quilty helped lead St. Patrick’s to the Ottawa City junior championship, the Eastern Ontario Secondary Schools Association championship, and the provincial championship, where he netted a hat trick in the ultimate game.
In September of 1939, now a senior in high school, Quilty tried out with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (the precursor to the modern Canadian Football League), with the team testing him at every position: passer, kicker, and ball-carrier. In October, 1939, Quilty tried out for the Ottawa Senators of the Quebec Senior Hockey League, impressing the Senators enough that they asked for special permission to use him in their exhibition line-up to further try and persuade him to sign with them. He returned to St. Patrick’s to start the season before being recalled to the Senators in December during Christmas break for further exhibition play and a choice between remaining in college or join the Senior circuit. He ultimately decided to return to school to complete his studies, and once again dominated the scoring race in the Senior Interscholastic Hockey League, leading St. Patrick’s to another city championship.
During that game Quilty caught the eye Paul Haynes, a Montreal Canadiens forward who was on a cross-Canada scouting assignment for the team. Haynes immediately reported back to the team that this player was one to watch.
The Montreal Star sat down with new Canadiens’ head coach Dick Irvin in April 1940, and Irvin praised the work that Haynes did in spotting talent. “Say, that Haynes did some pretty good work in his scouting,” said Irvin. “You know he landed a few players that I thought were tied up. That Reardon now. A fine player and will those Irish fans go for him. Three years from now he will be the toast of Point St. Charles and all points west where the Celts gather. He has a lad named Lach on the list that I wanted for the Leafs. Paul is quite a judge of talent.”
Irvin recalled specifically asking Haynes about players in Ottawa as he held the style of hockey from that city in high regard. “Hockey players to be good need the will to win,” said Irvin. “They have to be in condition during the hockey season. You know what hockey players need too, is that old Ottawa spirit. The Finnegan Broadbent spirit. You know that Finnegan could be put on any line and he fitted in.” Irvin recalled Haynes’ response: “There are a few and one of them is Johnny Quilty. That boy has everything. A natural star, school leader, fine football player”.
At 19 years old and high school completed, Quilty had the choice of either entering university or signing one of the many offers he received to play hockey. By the end of July 1940, it was confirmed that he was heading to Montreal, most likely to play for the Canadiens’ senior farm team the Montreal Royals in the Quebec Senior Hockey League, spurning the endless advances of the Senators and to the great chagrin of the Ottawa newspapers.
Quilty moved to Montreal in early September 1940 and took a job with the Canada Car Company while awaiting his assignment to a senior hockey team. But before Quilty joined the Canadiens for training camp, he took part in another training camp, this one being the one of the Montreal football team (not yet the Alouettes), again seen as an affront by the Ottawa papers because the Rough Riders were still trying to sign him. Quilty played a couple of games before leaving the football team to join the Canadiens training camp in St. Hyacinthe and never looked back.
On October 8, 1940, Quilty joined the Canadiens rookie camp, with Irvin declaring that there were 15 spots open on the team, and that “nobody’s job from last season was safe.” Among the other rookies that year trying to earn a spot were Tony Graboski, Elmer Lach, Ken Reardon, and Joe Benoit.
The regular players like Toe Blake and Charlie Sands joined the training camp soon after, and the first official game was on October 21 when the Canadiens took on their primary farm team the New Haven Eagles in St. Hyacinthe. Quilty, Reardon, Lach, and Benoit all played for the Canadiens, while returning players like Polly Drouin, Louis Trudel, and 12-year-veteran Armand Mondou were relegated to the Eagles. Quilty scored two goals, and continued to impress. So much so that the Canadiens approached the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association for permission to sign Quilty–still of junior age, hence still prioritized to play in the junior leagues. Permission was granted and Quilty signed his first professional contracts in time to start the 1940-41 season as one of the youngest players in the entire NHL.
George Mantha, a 12-year veteran of the Canadiens, seeing all the rookies at camp, realized that his job was in peril. Out of all the rookies, he noted that, “Quilty is the best of the newcomers. He’s ready for the big league right now, all right. Give him two good, experienced wings to work with and polish him up a bit, and he’ll be a full-fledged star two months after the season opens”.
When the final roster was set, Irvin unveiled his “New Deal” consisting of five rookies, while veterans Drouin and Mantha were loaned to New Haven, and Haynes retired to take a full-time job as scout for the Canadiens. After a dead-last finish the previous season, and second-to-last the season before, Irvin was aiming for a much better result for the 1940-41 season, about fourth place and a playoff qualification, with Quilty expected to lead the pack.
“Quilty has surprised everybody, I think, but there’s a boy who in a couple of years, if he develops as we think he will, is going to be one of the best centres of the game,” proclaimed Frank Patrick, the business manager of the Canadiens (aka, general manager by modern parlance).
The hype was so high that there was even a public battle in the newspapers over who discovered Quilty. Alex Connell (former Stanley Cup champion with the Montreal Maroons, and head coach of the St. Patrick’s high school team) took great offence that Haynes was credited by the Montreal Gazette for discovering Quilty. Connell argued that he’s been training Quilty for the last three years and was so sure that Quilty would be an NHL-calibre player that he reached out to the Canadiens to let them know about his protege. He wrote a letter to the Montreal Gazette denouncing their story and demanded a public apology from them, which they granted.
Initially on a backchecking line with Red Getliffe and Charlie Sands, it didn’t take long for Quilty to start gaining recognition for his play. Marc McNeil of the Montreal Gazette wrote a few weeks into the season that, “Johnny Quilty turned in a fine display. Quilty showed better advantage than he did a week ago. He was more than capable of taking care of himself and proved to be strong on his skates. Hard as the Black Hawks were hitting, they found it next to impossible to bowl Quilty over. Several times young John laid down passes that were something to see”.
Within a couple of weeks into the season the word was out with opponents that Quilty was the player who needed to be forechecked particularly closely. After just six games, Quilty was promoted to the top offensive line, centering Benoit and Trudel. The rest of the team, however, struggled to get going, which was not entirely unexpected with so many rookies.
In mid-January, Red Dutton, legendary manager of the New York Americans, never short of bold proclamations dropped a jewel speaking to the Montreal Gazette: “Hockey today is a faster, better game than it ever was. You say what about Morenz? What about Joliat? What about Shore? Okay, I’ll tell you that John Quilty is just as good a player now at 19 as Morenz was at 19”.
By this time, Quilty was second in team scoring behind only Tony Demers, playing on a line with Blake and Murph Chamberlain. Irvin praised Quilty’s skills, saying that he had the best shot in all of the NHL. “He can put the puck wherever he wants to, and I mean wherever he wants to, within a fraction of an inch. Look back over the goals that kid has scored and see if you can recall just how carefully most of his shots were placed. Goals that go into the inside corner through an opening barely the width of the puck. A lot of people seem to think it’s luck with Johnny when he gets that kind of goal. Well, he hasn’t had a lucky goal yet, believe me. When he puts the puck through a small opening, he means to do it. He’s aimed for just that opening. Don’t let anyone kid you about that Quilty’s shot. It’s a whip, and I don’t care if it doesn’t go as hard as Demers’ or Conachar’s. It’s accurate, and sometimes that means an awful lot more than velocity”.
Quilty moved up to the top of team scoring by mid-February, steadily growing accustomed to playing in the NHL. Newsy Lalonde commented that, “Quilty knows how to score; he keeps his head down and the goaler never knows where he’s going to shoot”. The Montreal Gazette wrote an editorial lobbying for Frank Calder to consider Quilty for the trophy that bares his name for rookie of the year, ahead of Detroit Red Wings goaltender Johnny Mowers, who was somewhat considered as the favourite for the award for most of the season.
A big back-and-forth brewed in both candidates’ local newspapers, each one lobbying for their player. Frank Boucher, the head coach of the New York Rangers further inflamed conversation by stating that he didn’t believe that a goaltender should be considered for the Calder Trophy at all since goaltenders already have the Vezina Trophy to compete for. Leaguewide recognition of Quilty was spreading, as his name started appearing alongside the Canadiens to promote upcoming local games as the team’s marquee player.
The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs that year but lost in the first round to the Chicago Blackhawks. Quilty finished the season with 18 goals and 16 assists, for 34 points to lead the Canadiens, with Benoit and Blake close behind with 32 points each. In final voting for the Calder, Quilty received 15 first-place votes and 14 second-place votes, while Mowers received 14 first-place votes, 11 seconds, and three thirds. Following the scoring system (three points for a first place vote, two for a second, etc..) Quilty won the Calder trophy by a narrow margin of 73 points to Mowers’ 67, becoming the first ever Canadiens player to earn those honours.
Quilty was presented the trophy by Frank Calder at a massive banquet at St. Patrick’s College in Ottawa on May 8. “You are no longer a rookie, Johnny. You never can win this trophy again. For this reason I did not put a shield on it, and it is now yours to keep”. It was attended by several members of the Canadiens and various sporting delegates from Montreal and Ottawa. It was called the biggest banquet of its kind in Ottawa’s history.
Jimmy Ward, retired Canadiens player and now the head coach of the New Haven Eagles, said, “give Quilty two more years and he will be a great star”. But Quilty wouldn’t get to test Ward’s prophecy because a more noble cause came calling.
Shortly after his 21st birthday in late January, in the midst of his second season, Quilty made the application to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Quilty figured that he would give it a try, and if his medical examinations were successful he was hoping to become a pilot. “I hope to be able to finish this hockey season,” Quilty told the Montreal Gazette in early March 1942, “but I guess I won’t be playing any hockey next year. By then I expect to be right in there–in the service. When it comes to joining up, I think I’d prefer the Air Force”. Upon completing his medical examinations, Quilty enlisted and was immediately granted a leave of absence to complete the hockey season. The 1941-42 season ended for the Canadiens with yet another elimination in the first round against their forever rivals the Detroit Red Wings–the 11th consecutive season the Canadiens failed to get past the first round.
“Give a cheer for Johnny Quilty who walked to the nearest recruiting depot as soon as he came of age, was accepted for air crew, didn’t draw so much as a pix or a par in the papers,” said Montreal Star sports journalist Baz O’Meara.
“Hockey most definitely is of secondary consideration to the bigger job of winning the war,” said Tommy Gorman, the general manager of the Canadian Arena Company. “The day of the tourist hockey player–the fellow who loafed in the summer–is definitely out as far as Canadiens are concerned”. Most Canadiens worked the war effort during the off-season in various roles. Stationed in Toronto awaiting deployment, Quilty was eventually assigned to Vancouver to patrol the west coast of Canada. While there, he played hockey in the local Pacific amateur league, dominating the scoring once again.
In February 1946, Quilty, now holding the rank of sergeant, returned from his assignment following the end of the war, and was looking to return to playing with the Canadiens. However, the team was sitting in first place in the NHL led by the sensational Punch Line of Blake, Lach, and superstar newcomer Maurice Richard. Since there was now no urgency to bring Quilty back, he was loaned to the Ottawa Senators of the QSHL, on the condition that the Canadiens can recall him at any time. “If we need him for Canadiens,” said Gorman, “we’ll bring him up a little later on”.
On the night of Quilty’s scheduled return, the Senators made him a late scratch when they saw Irvin enter the auditorium. Irvin wanted to see if Quilty had returned to form, but the Senators didn’t want to lose Quilty as they were in the midst of their own playoff chase, so they kept him off the ice and in the stands. Quilty made his Senators debut the following evening, without Irvin looking on, scoring two goals. But beyond that, Quilty never regained the form and promise that he showed in his rookie year. He spent the majority of the 1946-47 season in the American Hockey League before being traded to the Boston Bruins the following season. Early promise of a career rejuvanation with five points in six games stopped when Quilty broke his leg, ending both his season and NHL career.
Quilty is an interesting ‘what if?’ scenario for Montreal Canadiens historians, showing uncanny talent and potential at such a young age, establishing himself as a top-line centre, and earning league-wide recognition. His sophomore season started slow but he started ramping back up into form around the same time that word broke of his upcoming enlistment. If he didn’t leave to serve in the Canadian military during the Second World War, would he have realized his superstar potential that many had predicted? And, more interestingly, would there be roster space available for a young Maurice Richard a year later? The Canadiens won three consecutive Stanley Cups after Quilty left, and when Quilty returned he no longer had a place on the roster, replaced by the electrifying Rocket and Lach who backfilled himself into the top line centreman role he would not give up.
Would the Canadiens have found similar success with Qulity? It’s certainly an interesting questions to ponder.
