Robert Price "Stubby" Rowe (August 19, 1885 – September 21, 1948) was a Canadian 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 whose career spanned the early years of organized professional hockey in North America. Born in Heathcote, Ontario, Rowe played a total of 257 games in the

Pacific Coast Hockey Association The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in Western Canada and the Western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was cons ...

(PCHA), 25 games in the

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), initially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey Leagu ...

(NHA), and four games in the newly formed

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL), making him one of the few players to have competed in all three of the major leagues of his era. Throughout his career, Rowe played for several notable teams, including the

Renfrew Millionaires Renfrew (; ; ) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire (historic), Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the House of Stewart, Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Sc ...

Victoria Aristocrats The Victoria Cougars were a Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after ...

Seattle Metropolitans The Seattle Metropolitans were a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle, playing in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1915 to 1924. During their nine seasons, the Metropolitans were the PCHA's most successful franchise, a ...

, and

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

. He began his career as a forward, primarily on the right wing. As the game evolved and his career progressed, Rowe transitioned to defence, a position in which he would spend the majority of his professional years. One of the defining moments of Rowe’s career came in

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

when he was a member of the Seattle Metropolitans. That year, the Metropolitans defeated the Montreal Canadiens to win 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 ...

, marking the first time in history that a team based in the United States captured hockey’s most prestigious trophy. Following his retirement from professional hockey, Rowe remained active in the world of sports and entertainment. He became involved in promoting midget auto racing in the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

United States."MEN BEHIND Races Tonight At Jones Park THE MIDGETS"
''Vancouver Sun''. July 25, 1939 (pg. 9). Retrieved 2020-10-29.

Death

Rowe passed away on September 21, 1948, in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, aged 63, leaving behind a legacy as both a pioneer of early professional hockey and a sports promoter.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Bobby 1885 births 1948 deaths 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Boston Bruins players Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Ontario People from The Blue Mountains, Ontario Portage Lakes Hockey Club players Renfrew Hockey Club players Portland Rosebuds players Seattle Metropolitans players Stanley Cup champions Victoria Aristocrats players