Samuel George "Goldie" Prodgers (often misspelled Prodger) (February 18, 1891 – October 25, 1935) was a Canadian

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. During his career he played for the Waterloo Colts,

Quebec Bulldogs The Quebec Bulldogs () were an ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The team was officially known as the Quebec Hockey Club (), and later as the Quebec Athletic Club (). One of the first organized ice hockey clubs, the club debuted in 1878 with ...

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 ...

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 ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

, Toronto 228th Battalion, Toronto St. Pats, and Hamilton Tigers. He 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 1912 with the Bulldogs, and in 1916 with the Canadiens, and retired in 1925.

Playing career

George Prodgers was born in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, and played amateur hockey for the London Athletic, joining its junior team in 1908, and graduating to their intermediate team for the 1909–10 season. He turned professional for the Waterloo Colts of 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 ...

for the 1910–11 season. When Waterloo folded its team, Prodgers, along with

Eddie Oatman Edward Cole Oatman (June 10, 1889 – November 5, 1973) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was among the elite goal scorers of his era. Among his 32 years (1907–39) playing professional ice hockey, Oatman was named an all-star fo ...

and Jack McDonald joined the Quebec Bulldogs of 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). The Bulldogs won the NHA championship and the

and defeated Moncton in a Stanley Cup challenge series. Prodgers joined the

for the 1912–13 season despite being under contract with Quebec. He returned to Quebec for one season, before joining the

for a season and a season with the

. While playing for the Canadiens, the Canadiens went to its first Stanley Cup finals, winning the series on a goal by Prodgers. He enlisted with the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...

and played for the Toronto 228th Battalion for the last NHA season (1916–17) before being shipped overseas. He returned to Canada in 1919 but refused to report to Quebec which was assigned his playing rights in the new

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). He was traded between several teams before he settled in with the new

Toronto St. Patricks The Toronto St. Patricks (colloquially known as the St. Pats) were a professional ice hockey team which began playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1919. The Toronto NHL franchise (league membership) had previously been held by the Aren ...

. After that one season with Toronto, he joined the Hamilton Tigers where he had his best offensive seasons, scoring 18 goals in 1920–21. He stayed with the Tigers until the end of the 1924–25 season. The Tigers were suspended at the end of the season after a player's strike and their contracts were sold to the

New York Americans The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play ...

. Prodgers retired at that point, But after a season away, he joined the London Panthers of the Canadian Professional League, whom he would coach in the following season.

Post-playing career

He died on October 25, 1935, in London, Ontario."George Prodgers Dead – Former Hockey Star Victim of Heart Attack"
''The Montreal Gazette'', October 26, 1935.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Transactions

* Signed as a free agent by Waterloo (OPHL), January 5, 1911. * Signed as a free agent by Quebec (NHA), November 1911. * Signed by Victoria (PCHA) after jumping contract with Quebec (NHA), November 18, 1912. * Traded to Montreal Wanderers (NHA) by Quebec (NHA) for cash, December 4, 1914. * NHL rights were transferred to Quebec by the NHL when the Quebec franchise returned to NHL, November 25, 1919. * Suspended by Quebec after refusing to report to training camp, November 27, 1919. * Traded to Montreal by Quebec for Ed Carpenter, December 21, 1919. * Traded to Toronto by Montreal for

Harry Cameron Harold Hugh Cameron (February 6, 1890 – October 20, 1953) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played professionally for the Toronto Blueshirts, Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators, Toronto St. Pats, and Montreal Canadiens. Cameron won three ...

, January 14, 1920. * Traded to Montreal by Toronto with Joe Matte for Harry Cameron, November 27, 1920. * Traded to Hamilton by Montreal with Jack Coughlin, Joe Matte and loan of

Billy Coutu Wilfrid Arthur "Billy" Coutu (March 1, 1892 – February 25, 1977), nicknamed "Wild Beaver", was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, the Hamilton Tigers, ...

for 1920–21 season for

Harry Mummery Harold "Mum" Mummery (August 25, 1889 – December 9, 1945) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman. Mummery played professionally from 1911 until 1923, including six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Arenas, ...

, Jack McDonald and Dave Ritchie, November 27, 1920.

Awards

* Played on the OHA-Jr. first All-Star Team (1909) * Inducted into the London Sports Hall of Fame (November 2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prodgers, George 1891 births 1935 deaths Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian military personnel of World War I Hamilton Tigers (ice hockey) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Ice hockey people from London, Ontario London Panthers players Montreal Canadiens (NHA) players Montreal Canadiens players Montreal Wanderers (NHA) players Quebec Bulldogs (NHA) players Toronto 228th Battalion players Toronto St. Pats players Victoria Aristocrats players