William John Baird (March 18, 1884 – December 4, 1968) 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 ...

professional

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 1900s. He was one of the first professionals in the sport of

. Born in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, he played for the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

Haileybury Comets The Haileybury Hockey Club (also known as the ''Haileybury Comets'' or ''Haileybury Miners'') were an ice hockey based in Haileybury, Ontario, which existed from 1906 to 1915. The team is notable for being a founding member of the National Hockey A ...

Pittsburgh Pros The Pittsburgh Professional Hockey Club, also referred to as the Pittsburgh Professionals and Pittsburgh Pros, were a professional ice hockey team that participated in the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) from 1904 until 1907. The t ...

, Waterloo Colts and Galt.

Playing career

At the age of 19, Baird first left Ottawa to pursue his hockey career in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

with the Pittsburgh Athletic Club of the

Western Pennsylvania Hockey League The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL) was an originally amateur and later professional ice hockey league founded in 1896 and existing through 1909. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the league became the pre-eminent ice hockey league in ...

(WPHL) in 1903–04. In 1904–05, he joined the

Pittsburgh Professionals The Pittsburgh Professional Hockey Club, also referred to as the Pittsburgh Professionals and Pittsburgh Pros, were a professional ice hockey team that participated in the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) from 1904 until 1907. The t ...

of the International Hockey League (IHL) for which he played on and off for the next three seasons. Baird played in several cities over the next three seasons, including stops with

Portage la Prairie, Manitoba Portage la Prairie () is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. In 2016, the population was 13,304 and the land area was . Portage la Prairie is approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Highway, Trans-Can ...

and his hometown with the

in 1906–07. While with Portage la Prairie he was suspended for professionalism alongside fellow Ottawa player Alwyne "Allan" Kent. In 1907–08, he played the season with the Winnipeg Strathconas of the Manitoba Professional Hockey League (MPHL). In 1908–09, Baird returned east, playing in Ottawa with the Ottawa Aberdeens and with Haileybury Hockey Club of the Temiscaming Professional Hockey League (TPHL). He played his final two seasons in the

Ontario Professional Hockey League The Ontario Professional Hockey League (OPHL), sometimes referred to as the Trolley League, and also known as the Canadian Hockey League in its time, was a professional ice hockey league in Canada. It was a fully professional league and consisted ...

, with Waterloo and Galt. While with Galt, he played in their 1911

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 ...

challenge against the Senators. He died at an Ottawa hospital on December 4, 1968, and is buried at Pinecrest Cemetery.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Billy 1884 births 1972 deaths Ice hockey people from Ottawa Ottawa Senators (original) players Pittsburgh Athletic Club (ice hockey) players Pittsburgh Professionals players Canadian ice hockey defencemen 20th-century Canadian sportsmen