Harold "Mum" Mummery (August 25, 1889 – December 9, 1945) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. Mummery played professionally from 1911 until 1923, including six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Arenas, Quebec Bulldogs, Montreal Canadiens and Hamilton Tigers. He was a three-time O'Brien Cup champion and a two-time winner of the Stanley Cup. Mummery's six assists as an NHL rookie in the 1918 Stanley Cup Finals set an NHL-era record still unbroken.

Harry Mummery
Mummery with the Toronto Arenas.
Born (1889-08-25)August 25, 1889
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died December 9, 1945(1945-12-09) (aged 56)
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 15 st 10 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Quebec Bulldogs
Montreal Canadiens
Torontos
Toronto Arenas
Hamilton Tigers
Saskatoon Crescents
Playing career 1911–1923

At the time of his career, Mummery was the largest player ever in the NHA and NHL, playing at 245 pounds in his NHL years and he was known to eat two steaks before hockey games.[1] Mummery appeared in three games as an NHL goaltender in an era when teams didn't dress a backup netminder, making him the skater to have played the most games in net.[1] He suited up as a goaltender twice with Quebec and once with Hamilton.

Playing career

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Born in Chicago, Mummery moved to Brandon, Manitoba at an early age. He first played hockey at the senior level for the Brandon Elks in 1907–08. From there he moved to Fort William, Ontario to play a season with the Fort William Forts in the Northern Ontario Hockey League. He returned to the prairies playing for Brandon and Moose Jaw in minor professional leagues.

In 1912, Mummery joined the Quebec Bulldogs of the National Hockey Association (NHA). In his rookie season, the Bulldogs won the O'Brien Cup and successfully defended the Stanley Cup championship. On the Bulldogs he formed a successful defence pairing with Joe Hall.[2] He played with the Bulldogs until he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in 1916. The Canadiens won the O'Brien Cup that season but lost to the Seattle Metropolitans in the Stanley Cup championship.

 
Mummery, sitting at far right, with the 1912–13 Quebec Bulldogs and the Stanley Cup.

Before the beginning of the 1917–18 season, the NHA ceased operations and the owners formed the National Hockey League (NHL). The players from the Quebec Bulldogs were dispersed to teams in the new NHL and Mummery was loaned to the Toronto Blueshirts club, now run by the Toronto Arena Company. The club would go on to win the Stanley Cup in a challenge series against the Vancouver Millionaires of the PCHA. After the season the Arena company formed the Toronto Arena Hockey Club and Mummery signed for the 1918–19 season. Unfortunately, the Arenas only managed to win five of their games throughout the 18-game schedule, and with poor attendance figures the team officially withdrew from the league on February 20, 1919.

In 1919–20 the Quebec Bulldogs returned and joined the NHL making it a four-team league once again. The NHL reassigned former Bulldogs players from the NHA, who were now playing in the NHL, back to the team, including Mummery. When the Quebec team was sold at the end of the 1919–20 season and transferred to Hamilton, Mummery was traded to the Montreal Canadiens where he played the 1920–21 NHL season. He was traded back to the Hamilton Tigers before the start of the 1921–22 season, playing parts of two seasons there before another trade in 1923 sent him to the Saskatoon Sheiks of the West Coast Hockey League. He played four games for Saskatoon in 1922–23 and retired.

He died in Brandon, Manitoba on December 9, 1945.[3]

Playing style

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Harry Mummery was one of the heaviest players of his time, his weight reportedly ranging somewhere between 220 and 250 pounds. According to the Canadian sports journalist Elmer Ferguson, who first saw Mummery play at the Westmount Arena in Montreal, the big defenceman had a prodigious appetite for food and a particular fondness of large steaks and cream. Ferguson claimed that Mummery had testified to drinking a quart of cream after every meal because he figured that it gave him strength.[4][5]

Mummery, although not one of the most prominent offensive defenders of his era, still had a decent goal-scoring upside. During the 1920–21 NHL season he scored 15 goals in 24 games for the Montreal Canadiens, many of them from what Elmer Ferguson referred to as a "one-man-power-play."[5]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1907–08 Brandon Elks MHA
1908–09 Fort William Forts NOHL 12 3 0 3 1 0 0 0
1909–10 Fort William Forts NOHL
1910–11 Brandon Shamrocks MIPHL 5 1 0 1
1911–12 Moose Jaw Brewers Sask-Pro 8 1 0 1
1912–13 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 19 5 0 5 87
1912–13 Quebec Bulldogs St-Cup 2 1 0 1 0
1913–14 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 20 8 5 13 29
1914–15 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 20 7 4 11 88
1915–16 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 23 2 1 3 84
1916–17 Montreal Canadiens NHA 20 5 3 8 101 2 0 0 0 18
1916–17 Montreal Canadiens St-Cup 4 0 0 0 25
1917–18 Toronto Arenas NHL 18 3 3 6 41 2 1 1 2 17
1917–18 Toronto Arenas St-Cup 5 0 6 6 21
1918–19 Toronto Arenas NHL 13 2 0 2 30
1919–20 Quebec Bulldogs NHL 24 9 9 18 42
1920–21 Montreal Canadiens NHL 24 15 5 20 69
1921–22 Hamilton Tigers NHL 20 4 2 6 40
1922–23 Hamilton Tigers NHL 7 0 0 0 4
1922–23 Saskatoon Sheiks WCHL 4 0 0 0 2
NHA totals 102 27 13 40 389 2 0 0 0 18
NHL totals 106 33 19 52 226 2 1 1 2 17

Goaltender stats

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T Min GA SO GAA GP W L T Min GA SO GAA
1919–20 Quebec Bulldogs NHL 3 1 1 0 142 18 0 7.61
1921–22 Hamilton Tigers NHL 1 1 0 0 50 2 0 2.34
NHL totals 4 2 1 0 192 20 0 6.00

Awards and achievements

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Records (1)

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References

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Bibliography

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  • Podnieks, Andrew (2003). Players: the ultimate A-Z guide of everyone who has ever played in the NHL. Toronto, Ontario: Doubleday Canada. ISBN 0-385-25999-9.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Podnieks, p. 609
  2. ^ "The Sport Realm" Westwick, Bill. Ottawa Journal. Dec. 11, 1945 (pg. 16). Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  3. ^ "Harry Mummery, 56, Dies at Brandon" Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. Dec. 11, 1945. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  4. ^ "Heavyweight Defence for the Canadiens" Toronto World. December 8, 1916. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  5. ^ a b "Elmer Recalls Steaks and Hats of Harry Mummery!" Toronto Daily Star. December 15, 1945. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
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