Free A Great Game by Stephen J. Harper

league next season. Those squads frequently came through Toronto on road trips between Pennsylvania, Michigan andfamily in Canada. Closer to home, it appeared the new Queen City club would have a sister organization and competitor in Barrie.
    The OHA had expelled its Barrie club over the Bobby Rowe affair. Now, with Miln’s younger brother Jack as secretary-treasurer, Barrie was establishing its own professional team. It would also include key forward Steve Vair, who had played with Rowe—as well as Marlboros Ridpath, Young and Burgoyne—at New Liskeard. The OHA tried a bit of public-relations face-saving by announcing that Barrie’s all-star cover point, Howard Gee, would be doing the right thing by remaining an amateur and becoming a Marlboro. It backfired: Gee subsequently declared that he, too, was going pro—along with the entire Barrie team.
    Having secured an organization, a manager, a rink, a league franchise, a local opponent and a plan for the season, the Torontos now needed only players to round out those locals who were already committed. It was apparent there would be no shortage of men looking for a place in the Torontos’ lineup. Between OHA expulsions and the lure of the pro option, a growing number of quality city players were keen to be given a tryout. There were soon about two dozen men seeking spots.
    But there was a rub: professional athletes were not club property like their amateur counterparts. Once a professional, an athlete could play anywhere there was a willing employer. In other words, the professional of the day was a perennial unrestricted free agent, free to sign with whatever team he wished to play for so long as he lacked a better offer. In the burgeoning world of pro hockey, competition from other potential employers was intense, especially for established performers.
    Some veteran players from the 1905–06 gang were already pursuing offers elsewhere. Jack Marshall and Charlie Liffiton were heading to the ECAHA, with Roy Brown and Bert Morrison going to the IHL. Most troubling was the loss of Pete Charlton to the States. His $50 per week salary was far more than a barnstorming outfit could promise. A top star in the IHL could aim for at least $75.
    These defections led the OHA-supporting papers to confidently predict that the professional team would not be viable. Billy Hewitt’s Star sarcastically observed that the club—after the rink got two-thirds of the gate, the visitors received a fee and each player a share—“should simply coin money.” 12 At Robertson’s Telegram , the dismissal was complete.“Professional hockey in Toronto promises to flourish till the frost comes,” the paper predicted ominously. “Then like other flowers it will fade away and die.” 13
    Before long, however, the Toronto Hockey Club had scheduled its first game. It was announced that, on December 28, 1906, the opponent would be Ontario’s original pro rebels, the Canadian Soo team of the International league. They were led by Roy Brown at point and included Marty Walsh, an amateur star who had recently defected from Queen’s University. The Mutual Street Rink also declared that out-of-town scores would be broadcast during the game.
    The message was clear: this was the big leagues.
    As the date approached, the Toronto Professionals—as the club was soon labelled—were coming together. The only players remaining from the 1905–06 experiment were Lambe at point, Jack Carmichael at centre and Frank McLaren at right wing. With Clarence Gorrie oddly deciding to return to amateur in the Toronto Aquatic Hockey League, Manager Miln secured former Marlboro prospect Mark Tooze to play goal. He rounded out the lineup by adding Young at cover, Ridpath at rover and Burgoyne at left wing.
    Was this a group ready to take on an established professional club? With five men from the Marlboro organization, it was a credible senior-level team.