George Andrew McNamara (August 26, 1886 – March 10, 1952) 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. He was a member of the 1914

Toronto Blueshirts The Toronto Hockey Club, known as the Torontos and the Toronto Blueshirts, were a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They were a member of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The club was founded in 1911 and began operations in 191 ...

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 ...

champions. His brothers Harold and

Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...

also played professional ice hockey. McNamara 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 1958.

Playing career

When McNamara was a youngster, his family moved to

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in northern Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of the St. Mary's River directly across from its "twin city," Sault Ste. Marie, in the state of Michigan. The city's population was 72,051 at the 2021 census, makin ...

(known locally as "The Soo"), where he first learned the game of hockey. McNamara made his professional hockey debut playing with the

Sault Ste. Marie Marlboros The Sault Ste. Marie Marlboros, also known as the Canadian Soo and Soo Algonquins, was a professional ice hockey team from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. It was the lone Canadian entry in the International Hockey League of 1904–1907, and ...

of the International Hockey League during the 1906–1907 season. George and his brother, Howard, also briefly a member of the Soo Marlboros, were known as the "Dynamite Twins" because of their bone-crunching body checks. The International Hockey League folded in 1907 when a purely amateur game in Canada finally gave way to professional leagues and the top Canadian players were lured back to Canada to play. McNamara, a big, rugged defenceman, was in high demand among Canadian professional clubs, playing with four clubs in four leagues from 1908 to 1913. McNamara was one of the best open ice checkers of his day. He would help the

win the 1914

. His professional hockey career was interrupted in 1916 when he enlisted in the Canadian Army during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, along with brother Harold. He was a member of the 228th Battalion team that played 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 ...

before being ordered overseas on February 10, 1917. McNamara helped organize the Battalion's hockey team, and coached the junior affiliate. As many of the members of the 228th Battalion had rail construction and operation experience, it was re-designated as the 6th Battalion of the Canadian Railway Troops. McNamara served in this capacity for the duration of the war, and was

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

and promoted to major before being discharged and returning to Canada in March 1919. After returning from the service, McNamara became the coach of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (a team which he is credited for naming because "a greyhound is faster than a wolf" in reference to the local rivals, the Sudbury Wolves) and led the team to the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the senior ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. It was most recently won by the Wentworth Gryphins ...

championship in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

. George and Howard founded the McNamara Construction Company and developed it into a prosperous firm. He died in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

on March 10, 1952."Playing the Field" – "George McNamara Passes"
Carroll, Dink. ''The Gazette'' (Montreal). March 11, 1952 (pg. 16). Retrieved 2020-10-27. He was inducted posthumously into the

in 1958.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, George 1886 births 1952 deaths Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian sportspeople of Irish descent Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Ontario Montreal Shamrocks (non-NHA) players Sportspeople from Penetanguishene Sault Ste. Marie Marlboros players Stanley Cup champions Toronto 228th Battalion players Toronto Blueshirts players Toronto Ontarios players Toronto Shamrocks players Toronto Tecumsehs players Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers 20th-century Canadian sportsmen