Archibald "Archie" William Hooper (September 11, 1881 – October 11, 1904) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

amateur

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player in the early years of the sport. He was a member of the

Montreal Hockey Club The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA) and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team ...

that won the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

in 1902 and 1903, a team popularly known as the 'Little Men of Iron'. He died at age 23 after only three years of senior hockey play. Hooper is believed to be the first ice hockey player to die from a hockey-related injury."Turning Back Hockey's Pages"
MacDonald, D. A. L.. ''Montreal Gazette''. March 22, 1934 (p. 13).

Personal life

Hooper was born in St. Lambert, Quebec, one of six children. He was brother to Charles, Bruce,

Reginald Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language meaning "king". Etymology and history The name Reginald comes from Latin meaning "king" and "ruler" symbolizing authority and leadership. It comes from combining Latin “ rex” meaning ...

, Allan and Harley. In February 1903, Hooper was injured in an ice hockey game and he never fully recovered. In July 1904, he was admitted to Royal Victoria Hospital and he stayed there 'for a period' and was then released to go home, where he died in October 1904.

Playing career

Hooper had a short but productive ice hockey career. He joined the senior Montreal HC squad in 1901. That

1902 CAHL season The 1902 Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) season was the fourth season of the league. Teams played an eight-game schedule. The Montreal HC were the league champion with a record of six wins and two losses. After the season, Montreal HC chal ...

he led the league with 17 goals in 8 games and Montreal HC won the league championship. After the league play, Montreal challenged the Stanley Cup champion

Winnipeg Victorias The Winnipeg Victorias were an amateur senior-level men's amateur ice hockey team in Winnipeg, Manitoba, organized in 1889. They played in the Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Victorias won the ...

and defeated them to win the championship. The series with Winnipeg earned the Montreal HC the nickname 'Little Men of Iron' for their steadfast defence in the final game of 1902 when Montreal was ahead by one goal in the final game of the challenge and Winnipeg was pressing to score, as well as for the diminutive stature of many of the team's players. It was the first time since 1894 that Montreal HC had won the Stanley Cup. In the following

1903 CAHL season The 1903 Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) season was the fifth season of the league. Teams played an eight-game schedule. Ottawa and Montreal Victorias tied for the league championship with records of six wins and two losses. Ottawa defeated ...

, Montreal HC defeated Winnipeg in a rematch Stanley Cup challenge, but Hooper and Montreal did not repeat as league champions. Although injured in February, Hooper scored ten goals in six games of league play and five goals in four games of Stanley Cup play. After the 1903 season, many of the Montreal HC players left to join the new

Montreal Wanderers The Montreal Wanderers were an amateur, and later professional, ice hockey team based in Montreal. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL), the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), the National Hockey Association ...

. Hooper was the only regular player to stay with the team and was named Captain. The rest of the team was restocked with new players from the junior ranks. The 1904 season would be Hooper's last. He played five games and scored six goals, but was injured when he was hit on the head by a hockey puck. He would eventually die from the injury on October 11, 1904.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Archie 1881 births 1904 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Ice hockey people from Longueuil Ice hockey players who died while playing Montreal Hockey Club players Stanley Cup champions