Smokey Harris
| Smokey Harris | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Smokey Harris with the 1913–14 Vancouver Millionaires. | |||
| Born |
October 11, 1890 Port Arthur, ON, CAN | ||
| Died | June 4, 1974 (aged 83) | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb) | ||
| Position | Left Wing | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Vancouver Millionaires Portland Rosebuds Vancouver Maroons Seattle Metropolitans Boston Bruins Edmonton Eskimos | ||
| Playing career | 1911–1932 | ||
Thomas Wilfred "Smokey, Fred" Harris (October 11, 1890 – June 4, 1974) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Harris played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). Harris was born in Port Arthur, Ontario. His brother Henry was also a professional ice hockey player. Harris scored the first goal in Boston Bruins' franchise history.
Hockey career
Harris first played senior hockey with the Kenora Thistles in the 1909–10 season. In 1911, he joined the Vancouver Millionaires of the PCHA, playing three seasons before being traded to the Portland Rosebuds before the 1914–15 season. He played four seasons for Portland. Portland won the PCHA championship in 1916, briefly taking over the Stanley Cup before losing it in the 1916 Stanley Cup Finals to the Montreal Canadiens. After Portland folded, Harris returned to the Millionaires, playing another five seasons. With Vancouver, Harris played in the 1921 and 1923 Stanley Cup series, both times against the Ottawa Senators. After one season, with the Seattle Metropolitans, he was traded to the Boston Bruins of the NHL, scoring the Bruins' first-ever NHL goal on December 1, 1924 in the team's NHL debut game against the other NHL expansion team that year, the Montreal Maroons.[1] He played six games for the Bruins before being traded again, to the Vancouver Maroons of the WCHL, the renamed Millionaires franchise. After one season with Vancouver, Harris moved to California where, except for 1926–27 where he played for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Prairie League, he played out his career for teams in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the California Pro League. His final season was 1931–32 for the San Francisco Rangers. He was briefly playing coach for Richfield Oil in 1925–26, and coached a full season for the Hollywood Millionaires in 1929–30.
Statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1910–11 | Kenora Thistles | MHL-Pro. | 6 | 13 | 0 | 13 | – | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | – | ||
| 1912 | Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 15 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 55 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1912–13 | Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 16 | 14 | 6 | 20 | 61 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1913–14 | Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 15 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 33 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1914–15 | Portland Rosebuds | PCHA | 18 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 39 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1915–16 | Portland Rosebuds | PCHA | 18 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 75 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Stanley Cup | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 21 | ||||
| 1916–17 | Portland Rosebuds | PCHA | 23 | 18 | 13 | 31 | 39 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1917–18 | Portland Rosebuds | PCHA | 8 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1919 | Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 20 | 19 | 6 | 25 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 1919–20 | Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 22 | 14 | 11 | 25 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1920–21 | Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 24 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Stanley Cup | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||||
| 1921–22 | Vancouver Millionaires | PCHA | 23 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 21 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1922–23 | Vancouver Maroons | PCHA | 20 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Stanley Cup | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||||
| 1923–24 | Seattle Metropolitans | PCHA | 30 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1924–25 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1924–25 | Vancouver Maroons | WCHL | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1926–27 | Edmonton Eskimos | PrHL | 32 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 68 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1927–28 | Los Angeles Richfields | Cal-Pro | 21 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 26 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1928–29 | San Francisco Tigers | Cal-Pro | 36 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 43 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1929–30 | Hollywood Millionaires | Cal-Pro | 42 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 28 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1930–31 | San Francisco Tigers | Cal-Pro | 31 | 8 | 10 | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 1931–32 | San Francisco Rangers | Cal-Pro | 30 | 3 | 8 | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| PCHA totals | 252 | 156 | 90 | 246 | 416 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 7 | ||||
| Cal-Pro totals | 160 | 41 | 48 | 89 | 97 | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Stanley Cup totals | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 35 | ||||
Awards
- PCHA First All-Star Team – 1913, 1916, 1920
- PCHA Second All-Star Team – 1922
Transactions
- January 1, 1914 – Traded to Portland (PCHA) by Vancouver (PCHA) for Ken Mallen
- November 29, 1918 – Transferred to Vancouver (PCHA) after Portland (PCHA) franchise folded
- October 30, 1923 – Traded to Seattle (PCHA) by Vancouver (PCHA) for cash
- November 2, 1924 – Traded to Boston (NHL) by Seattle (PCHA) for cash
- December 21, 1924 - Traded to Vancouver (WCHL) by Boston for cash
- December 3, 1926 – Signed as a free agent by Edmonton (PrHL)
- October 17, 1927 – Signed as a free agent by LA Richfield (Cal-Pro)
References
- ↑ Pelletier, Joseph (June 2011). "Joe Pelletier's Greatest Hockey Legends.com - Smokey Harris". bruinslegends.blogspot.com. bruinslegends.blogspot.com. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
This is Smokey Harris. He is the answer to the trivia question "Who scored the first goal in Boston Bruins history?"...on December 1st, 1924 the Bruins played their first NHL game, hosting their expansion cousins the Montreal Maroons at the Boston Arena. The Maroons opened the scoring that night, with Dinny Dinsmore scoring on an unassisted effort at the 9 minute mark of the 1st period. Cue Harris. At 3:30 of the second period he took a pass from Carson "Shovel Shot" Cooper and beat Maroons goaltender Clint Benedict to open the scoring. Exactly 6 minutes later Cooper scored the only other goal of the night, securing the Bruins a 2-1 victory in their very first game.