Blair Russel (September 17, 1880 – December 7, 1961) 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

who played for the

Montreal Victorias The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. ...

. On the Victorias he was a long-time linemate of famous goal scorer

Russell Bowie Russell George Alexander "Russ, Dubbie" Bowie (August 24, 1880 – April 8, 1959) was a Canadian ice hockey player. He was generally regarded as one of the best players of the pre-NHL era of the sport, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of F ...

. He was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

in 1965. Russel was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. He joined the Montreal Victorias in 1894 as a junior, playing for the Victorias' team in the Montreal Metropolitan League. Russel moved up to the Victorias

Canadian Amateur Hockey League The Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) was an early men's amateur hockey league founded in 1898, replacing the organization that was formerly the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) before the 1898–99 season. The league existed for ...

(CAHL) Intermediate team two years later and joined the CAHL Senior team for the 1899–1900 season. An article by D. A. L. MacDonald in the April 14, 1934 issue of the

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

, "Turning Back Hockey's Pages", revisiting players from earlier eras, describes Russel as being "a tireless skater, a great back checker and a fine scorer in his own right." He was a younger brother of Bert Russel who played with the

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

Awards

* 1907 – ECAHA 1st All-Star Team

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Russel, Blair 1880 births 1961 deaths Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Montreal Montreal Victorias players Stanley Cup champions Canadian ice hockey left wingers 20th-century Canadian sportsmen