The George Richardson Memorial Trophy was presented annually from 1932 until 1971, by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. It represented the

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of the Hudson Bay/ Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newfoundland and Labrado ...

junior hockey championship, and a berth in the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

final versus the

Abbott Cup The Abbott Memorial Cup, commonly referred to as the Abbott Cup, was awarded annually from 1919 through 1999 to the Junior "A" ice hockey Champion for Western Canada. The Cup was named after Captain E.L. (Hick) Abbott who was a noted hockey p ...

champion from

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy was retired in 1971, when the Memorial Cup became a round-robin series between the winners of the three major junior hockey leagues in Canada; the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

, the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

and

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The ...

. The trophy was named for Captain George Taylor Richardson, a hockey player who died while serving in World War I.

Captain Richardson

Captain George Taylor Richardson (September 14, 1886 – February 9, 1916) was a Canadian ice hockey player, businessman, philanthropist, and later a soldier. Richardson was considered one of the finest amateurs of his time. He played for the Queen's University team that challenged the Ottawa Hockey Club for the 1906 Stanley Cup, and played for the 14th Regiment of Kingston team won the Ontario Hockey Association title, and the

J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, and ...

in 1908, and the

1909 Allan Cup The 1909 Allan Cup was the Canadian senior ice hockey championship for the 1908–09 season. The event was hosted by the Ottawa Cliffsides in Ottawa, Ontario. The 1909 playoff marked the first and second time that the Allan Cup was awarded. ...

. He was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950. Richardson was part of a prominent

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...

family that owned and operated James Richardson & Sons. He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and died in action in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and was created a Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 19 ...

History

The George Richardson Memorial Trophy was donated to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) by James Armstrong Richardson Sr. in memory of his brother in April 1932. The original three trustees named for the trophy were James T. Sutherland, W. A. Hewitt and

Fred Marples Frederick Paul Henry Marples (January 27, 1885January 17, 1945) was a Canadian sports executive in ice hockey and athletics. He was president of the Winnipeg Monarchs team which won Winnipeg Amateur Hockey League championships in 1914 and 191 ...

. The trophy was presented annually from 1932 until 1971. It represented the

junior hockey championship, and a berth in the

final versus the

champion from

. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy was retired in 1971, when the Memorial Cup became a round-robin series between the winners of the three major junior hockey leagues in Canada; the

, the

and

Playoff format

The Eastern Canada junior playoffs were open to the champions from five respective regions. However, league champions did not always participate, and the format varied depending on the number of teams. In the late 1950s, the Junior Canadiens participated as an independent team. Ontario-based teams won the most championships. No team from the Maritimes ever won the George Richardson Memorial Trophy, and the last time a Northern Ontario team won it occurred in 1937.

1951 series

CAHA vice-president W. B. George oversaw the

Barrie Flyers The Barrie Flyers were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1945 to 1960, from Barrie, Ontario. The Flyers played home games at the Barrie Arena from 1945 to 1960. History The Barrie Flyers junior team was founded ...

versus Quebec Citadels series for the George Richardson Memorial Trophy, to represent Eastern Canada in the 1951 Memorial Cup playoffs. When the Citadels refused to play game five in

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically ...

, George gave them an ultimatum to play or forfeit the series. Quebec decided to play too late to arrive by train, but arrived half an hour late after flying. George scheduled game seven on neutral ice at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

, despite protests from Flyers' coach

Hap Emms Leighton Alfred Emms (January 12, 1905 – October 23, 1988) was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, team owner, and general manager, during nearly 60 years in hockey. Emms played 17 seasons of professional hockey as a left winger and a defenc ...

who claimed that his team only agreed to resume the series if game seven was played in Barrie.

1971 series

Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) president

Tubby Schmalz Clarence Vincent "Tubby" Schmalz (December 19, 1916 – December 7, 1981) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He served as vice-president of the Western Ontario Athletic Association from 1940 to 1950, and coached and managed the senior ice ...

announced that teams from the OHA and the

would not play against any team from the

Western Canada Hockey League The Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926. The WCHL's Victoria C ...

(WCHL) for the 1971 Memorial Cup, due to disagreements over travel allowances given to team at the Memorial Cup and the higher number of over-age players allowed on WCHL rosters. He said that plans for an Eastern Canada series for the Richardson Trophy would go ahead. That made the 1971 Richardson Cup a potential national championship. The final Richardson Trophy in 1971 was played between the

Quebec Remparts There have been two junior ice hockey franchises known as the Quebec Remparts (french: Remparts de Québec) that played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The first edition played from 1969 to 1985; the current franchise has pla ...

and the St. Catharines Black Hawks, and was controversial due to violence and off-ice disputes causing its abandonment before completion. The series was played when tensions were high between

Anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

Canadians and Francophone nationalists, and featured future NHL stars

Guy Lafleur Guy Damien Lafleur (September 20, 1951 – April 22, 2022), nicknamed "the Flower" and "Le Démon Blond", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was the first player in National Hockey League (NHL) history to score 50 goals in six c ...

and

Marcel Dionne Marcel Elphège "Little Beaver" Dionne (born August 3, 1951) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. Marcel Dion ...

. The series was intended to be best-of-seven, but ended after five games with the Remparts leading three games to two. St. Catharines refused to return to

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

due to violence that occurred after game four, and threats from the Front de libération du Québec against its players. CAHA president

Earl Dawson Earl Phillip Dawson (December 17, 1925March 28, 1987) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator, politician and civil servant. He rose to prominence in Canadian hockey when he served as president of the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association from 1 ...

declared the series over when no further compromise could be reached. The Quebec Remparts ultimately accepted the challenge by the Western Canada champion Edmonton Oil Kings to play for the Memorial Cup.

Champions and finalists

List of champions and finalists of the George Richardson Memorial Trophy. *Number in parenthesis denotes total number of championships won.

References

External links

*
History of hockey and the Canadian military
Veterans Affairs Canada {{Memorial Cup 1932 establishments in Canada 1971 disestablishments in Canada Canadian Amateur Hockey Association trophies Canadian Hockey League trophies and awards Ice hockey tournaments in Canada Memorial Cup