J. S. Ernest Savard (April 17, 1896 – March 12, 1971) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

businessman. He was a stockbroker and a partner at the

brokerage firm A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be confu ...

of Savard & Hart in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He was also an owner of the Montreal Canadiens and Montreal Royals sports teams.

Biography

A sports fan, in 1928 Savard partnered with fellow Montreal businessman and politician, Athanase David, and Americans, American baseball executive, George Stallings, to revive the Montreal Royals baseball franchise as part of the International League and to build Delorimier Stadium. Savard then bought the Montreal Canadiens hockey franchise, with co-owners Maurice Forget and Louis Gelinas, for $165,000 in September 1935. Savard succeeded Athanase David as President (corporate title), President of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club. He also served as general manager for one season. Savard served as team president until 1940, when he was succeeded by Donat Raymond. Time magazine reported that Savard's business, a member of the Montreal Stock Exchange, suffered considerable financial losses in 1959 as a result of positions it had taken in a deal that turned out to be an orchestrated fraud by American financier, Alexander Guterma.

Personal

Savard was born 1896 in Sainte-Marie, Quebec, Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce, Quebec and died in 1971 in Largo, Florida.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savard, Ernest 1896 births 1971 deaths Canadian stockbrokers Montreal Canadiens executives National Hockey League executives